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  • And You Thought It Would Fail: The Clone Wars was originally against the odds due to the initial Animation Age Ghetto, the ties to the divisive Prequel Trilogy (which the series is set during), and the 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 The Mandalorian and multiple upcoming spinoffs of the latter.
  • Angst Aversion: The later seasons can be this to some people. Besides the matter that neither the Galactic Republic nor the Separatist Alliance win the war and that Palpatine will take over the galaxy, the mature and melancholy tone that The Clone Wars' later seasons have can make it difficult to care about the characters at times, particularly due to the Jedi Council's actions during the Obi-Wan Undercover arc (where Obi-Wan fakes his death to go undercover as Rako Hardeen and ends up giving Anakin a near mental breakdown) and the Fugitive arc (where Ahsoka is framed for murder and bombing the Jedi Temple hangar in addition to being arrested and deciding to leave the Jedi Order as a result). The story arcs in the third season focused on somewhat sympathetic yet still ruthless villains such as Asajj Ventress, Savage Opress, and Darth Maul (and they primarily didn't have happy endings), the many likable characters don't help the depression, and the deaths of several important characters in the series (Waxer, Satine, Tup, Fives, etc.) present how fruitless the conflict is able to be. This trope was likely part of the reason why the battle droids' comic relief became more warmly regarded later on, as it could help avert this. Dave Filoni himself even lampshaded after The Clone Wars' original run that the series' later seasons are very dark.
  • Anvilicious: Each episode starts with text describing the Aesop of the day, and said Aesop is presented in the episode with all the subtlety of a rampaging Krayt Dragon.
  • Award Snub:
    • Dee Bradley Baker deserves to receive an award for his truly amazing vocal performance as every single clone trooper because he manages to differentiate each of them with just slight variations in his voice. Unfortunately, he was only ever nominated once for an Annie and didn't win the award.
    • Mark Hamill received an Emmy nomination for his portrayal of Darth Bane, but he didn't win the award. Hamill was actually glad since he was irritated that he had been nominated for 22 minutes of work as opposed to the regular cast members of the series who have put in years of excellent performances.
  • Awesome Art: The art style and character designs of The Clone Wars combined with its amazingly high quality CGI animation are very visually appealing in addition to being realistic, beautifully detailed yet stylized, and slightly Animesque.
  • Base-Breaking Character:
    • General Grievous. Is his portrayal in The Clone Wars the right balance between his characterizations in Revenge of the Sith and the non-canon Star Wars: Clone Wars micro-series (despite the The Clone Wars and Revenge of the Sith being set in the same continuity)? Or is he just as (if not more than) pathetic as he will chronologically be in Revenge of the Sith?
    • Jar Jar Binks. As noted under the Rescued from the Scrappy Heap page, The Clone Wars has caused a number of people to view him in a more positive light than he was in the Prequel Trilogy. On the other hand, he's still one of the most notorious scrappies in film history and some fans still aren't willing to forgive him for that, which results in them carrying their vitriol for him over to The Clone Wars through occasionally labeling an episode as being bad just because he's featured in it. With that being said, he's not quite as universally loathed as he was back in The Phantom Menace.
    • The Clone Wars' portrayal of Asajj Ventress. Most like her as a great character as a result of her being a beautiful Dark Action Girl along with her development from a Sith apprentice to a more anti-heroic character with a neutral yet kind personality, while others lament that the series changed so many aspects of her personality and story that she feels like her In Name Only. 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 are usually 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.
  • Badass Decay:
    • Asajj Ventress. In the Legends comics and novels that were previously created before The Clone Wars, Ventress had been presented as a dangerous Sith Acolyte who posed a menace for several Jedi masters at once. In the pilot movie, on the other hand, she is treated as a joke by Obi-Wan in their singles duel and gets even half-disarmed by him. However, the series later fixed this by showing her as substantially more threatening.
    • Savage Opress. During the Nightsisters and Brothers arc, he is initially capable of fighting Obi-Wan and Anakin at the same time, and even choking Dooku and Ventress in a moment of blind rage. In his subsequent appearances, Savage is usually no match for Obi-Wan, even if he has the help of his brother.
  • Better on DVD: 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 the first two-and-a-half seasons in chronological order. There are bonus points that go to the Season 5 DVD set, where "Revival" (which aired on television as the Season 5 premiere) is now listed before "Eminence" as it was originally intended. Watching The Clone Wars on streaming platforms is also particularly helpful, as — provided that you have a list of the episodes in chronological order — it is easier to sort through the proper viewing order without having to jump back and forth between multiple discs.
  • Broken Base: The Clone Wars is divisive among the Legends (the old Star Wars Expanded Universe'') fanbase due to the large amount of retcons that have been made throughout the series.
    • Out of all the retcons that The Clone Wars' has made to the material from Legends, the most highly contested one is its portrayal of the Mandalorians. Is the idea of a Proud Warrior Race culture becoming pacifistic a serious case of Badass Decay for them and an insult to how other writers have developed them? Or is it a much-needed reality check for the historical progression of the culture (as well as how the warrior culture would be viewed by outsiders) after Karen Traviss's 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 fanatically bloodthirsty terrorist cult. After 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.
    • The Adaptational Alternate Ending given to Asajj Ventress, where she is betrayed by Dooku much earlier than in Legends and showcases 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 Ship Tease between her and Obi-Wan, a favorite ship among several circles of fans, which was bluntly sunk in this continuity after their admittedly promising team-up against Maul and Savage). Worse still, when Dark Disciple 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 Crack Pairing with an Esoteric Happy Ending that overrode both of their original, optimistic fates in Legends.
    • Regarding another Adaptational Alternate Ending, was the decision to turn Barriss Offee into a Dark Side user right or not? Some praise how shocking and powerful it was, while others consider it an insult to her character and a bad way to force a Clear My Name storyline with Ahsoka that could have been done better.
    • 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, underlining the dangers of politics represented by Palpatine and the war and adding much more depth to the action. The other side argues that with the Adaptation Relationship Overhaul 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 a lot of political symbolism and some potentially interesting and compelling plots away.
    • Should the creators have followed their original plans to introduce Durge in the series under a "human reimagining"? Many would have wished to see him onscreen again after his memorable (and disturbing) appearance in Star Wars: Clone Wars, but others feared that the intended redesign, whatever it was exactly, would have possibly damaged his character. There's a consensus, however, that the character created to replace him, Cad Bane, was good enough to deserve his own spot anyway, and some even wish that Durge and him had both appeared, possibly doing some storyline together due to their similar roles as CIS bounty hunters.
  • Can't Un-Hear It:
  • Character Rerailment: 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 Heterosexual Life-Partners in The Clone Wars that the Prequel Trilogy tried to present them as.
  • Continuity Lockout:
    • The Clone Wars relies on the events that occurred back in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones in order for the viewers to understand the general events of the series.
    • The Clone Wars also mostly consists of story arcs that range from two to four episodes long, meaning that viewers who watch an episode in a story arc partway in will be left confused as to what happened previously.
    • Furthermore, The Clone Wars is set in the same continuity as the important events that impact the Star Wars canon.
  • Creator Worship: As the supervising director of The Clone Wars, Dave Filoni has achieved deity status among a new generation of Star Wars viewers by the end of the series' original run thanks to his work. The announcement that Dave is reviving The Clone Wars after SDCC '18 practically has sent this into the stratosphere.
  • Die for Our Ship:
    • There are quite a few that dislike Lux because they would rather have Ahsoka paired with someone else.
    • They are also quite a few who dislike the shippings with Anakin/Rex/Barriss/etc. because they want her paired with Lux. It never ends.
    • Shippers of Anakin with Ahsoka are perhaps the worst offenders, however. Padmé Amidala has been murdered, driven crazy, subjected to nasty divorces, and outright ignored innumerable times in the name of this ship. It's still bad now, but it was especially bad in the early days of the fandom when Ahsoka didn't have a Love Interest of her own.
    • Those who like Anakin and Padmé as a couple would really be annoyed with Rush Clovis due to him being overly eager to pursue a relationship with Padmé, especially after she made it pretty clear that she no longer has feelings for him. Then again, it's already Foregone Conclusion that she will stay with Anakin as she's still Happily Married with him and pregnant with his child(ren) in Revenge of the Sith, so whether Clovis would somehow find out about their relationship and leave them in peace or continuously pursue romance with her despite her multiple rejections. He picked the latter and his days are numbered as the result.
  • Draco in Leather Pants: Given that Anakin was Rescued from the Scrappy Heap in The Clone Wars, his more ruthless actions throughout the series have been defended by many fans, particularly his No-Holds-Barred Beatdown of Rush Clovis along with his anger at the Jedi for faking Obi-Wan's death and exiling Ahsoka to save face. True, Clovis did try to force himself on Padmé, and Anakin's disillusionment with the Jedi Order was more than justified, but his near-murder of Clovis was meant to be portrayed in the wrong.
  • Evil Is Cool: Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress, General Grievous, Cad Bane, Aurra Sing, Admiral Trench, Pre Vizsla, Bo-Katan, Savage Opress, Darth Maul (although Maul's various horrific crimes might somewhat lessen his standing), and Darth Sidious all embody this trope.
  • Fandom-Specific Plot:
    • Ahsoka and Shaak Ti interacting with each other, with emphasis put on both of them being Togrutas, is a very popular theme.
    • Fanfics that deal with Ahsoka's future, often include at least one of these elements:
      • Ahsoka fighting Darth Vader either during the execution of Order 66, or years later. These usually go down two ways: either she's killed, or Vader decides to spare her and let her run. Alternate Continuity stories where she kills Vader are practically unheard of.
      • Ahsoka is in the company of Rex, who decides to disobey Order 66 and warns her to run.
      • Ahsoka meets with Luke, sometimes because she survived due to one of the options above. However, Time Travel and Human Popsicle stories are also common.
      • Ahsoka and Barriss interacting and Luminara's reaction after the events of "The Wrong Jedi".
    • A lot of these are now pushed onto Rebels, especially any involving Ahsoka.
  • Fandom Rivalry:
    • The Clone Wars has this type of rivalry with every other Clone Wars era Expanded Universe media, especially the 2D non-canon micro-series. It's mostly died out, but still comes back whenever The Clone Wars does a Retcon, especially regarding Barriss, Ventress, Vos, the bio-chips, and the Mandalorians. In some cases, this leads to a Fanon Discontinuity in which people choose Legends over canon.
    • The Clone Wars has developed one with Rebels after it took its place (before it was revived), as fans of The Clone Wars dislike Rebels for having both a very lighter tone and different art style. This rivalry is one-sided though, as fans of Rebels also like The Clone Wars since it features characters that appeared in the sequel series.
  • Fanon Discontinuity: Many fans of the Legends comic books and novels set during the Clone Wars era 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 makes it a lot easier for some to remove it out of their personal Legends headcanon). In some cases, this isn't always out of animosity towards the series, but simple pragmatism due to the many Continuity Snarls 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 Left Hanging have received their closure in material that is only part of the canon (and the same applies to a lot of What Could Have Been material that has yet to be adapted in some form). At best, they may apply Broad Strokes for elements referenced elsewhere in Legends and cut out anything that explicitly contradicts previous material such as the Fetts still being Mandalorians (which was eventually recanonized in a roundabout way), Barriss Offee never having a Face–Heel Turn, Order 66 not being a brainwashing command, and Ventress and Quinlan Vos having their original personalities and happy endings.
  • Fan Nickname:
    • CT-Chad, for the disarmed clone trooper who died shortly after punching a battle droid.
    • A few show up. Savage Opress is Randy, Anakin is Mannequin, and Ahsoka is Orange Buttcheeks.
    • In regards to the Shadow Collective arc, we get "Mauldalore" and "Mauldalorians" due to Darth Maul taking over the planet.
  • Fan-Preferred Couple: Ahsoka/Rex (or 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 "Heroes on Both Sides".
  • Foe Romance Subtext:
    • Even if not as much as in the Legends comic books, Asajj Ventress tends to have this with Obi-Wan. An example would be how the pilot movie features Ventress deciding to remove the skirt on her outfit and throw it at Obi-Wan in order to distract him during their lightsaber duel at the B'omarr Order Monastery on Teth. What's his retort when she tries to distract him by throwing said clothes in his face? "You'll have to do better than that, my darling." They continue this "flirtation" several more times throughout, as most of their battles double as a flirtatious word war, but it seems that Obi-Wan, at least, is being sarcastic. Although, unlike every other opponent that Ventress flirts with, Obi-Wan is often the one to start it. Then, there is their interactions when they work together during a lightsaber duel against Darth Maul and Savage Opress in "Revenge".
    • To an extremely disturbing degree, Darth Maul's psychotic obsession with (and desire for 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 "Revenge".
      Darth Maul: You may have forgotten me, but I will never forget you!
    • Another disturbing version is with Grievous and Obi-Wan, due to their rivalry given prominence over the course of five seasons, though it closely resembles a Crack Ship. Due to how increasingly personal the two have become in each other's side, and how they're able to predict the other's plans, as well as often seeking each other out to settle things during battles. Obi-Wan even once sets up a plan purely based on how he knows Grievous would rather settle things personally rather than just shoot down his ship.
  • Franchise Original Sin:
    • There are some complaints that the villains in The Clone Wars 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 Adaptational Badass. Most commonly, they cost the Republic many a Pyrrhic Victory, but when they did win, chances were it was focused on the Republic's point of view.
    • Cody being an Out of Focus Satellite Character is another criticism of The Clone Wars, but Cody himself got very few solo stories of his own to begin with in Legends. 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.
    • B1-battle droids were occasionally disliked by older audiences for being very silly and not particularly threatening. However, battle droids have always been widely commented on how non-threatening they are all the way since The Phantom Menace, where they are shown fumbling over their words, being cut down with ease, and making rather questionable decisions. Even in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith they aren't much better, even Super Battle droids being thoroughly humiliated in the latter by being set on fire by R2. However, putting more emphasis on the comedy aspect of the droids was what overshadowed their purpose as soldiers, which caused them to earn more flack.
  • Gateway Series: The Clone Wars serves as the introduction of the Star Wars canon and franchise as a whole for a lot of people in the new generation.
  • He Really Can Act: The Clone Wars is full of fantastic performances, ranging from veteran voice actors to vocal newcomers alike, enough that now it has its own page.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight:
    • In a fanon-example, shipping Anakin×Ahsoka becomes this in hindsight since Ahsoka's voice actor, Ashley Eckstein originally auditioned for the role of Padmé.
    • Many fans has also find it ironic for Darth Bane to be voiced by Mark Hamill, who also played Luke Skywalker. Hamill is now both a Jedi and a Sith.
  • Hype Backlash: The Clone Wars receiving such a very high praise has prompted some complaints that it's slightly overhyped (the series has several excellent story arcs, but also a few that are considered rather weak, making the quality slightly inconsistent) and has no care for Legends works (as it makes retcons with some frequency, particularly regarding characters and events from Legends Clone Wars media). There's also some who are growing tired of claims that the series turning darker and more violent automatically makes it better than its first part, or that the series was the first piece of Clone Wars fiction to do so (see Older Than They Think below).
  • Iron Woobie:
    • Obi-Wan. Several antagonists take his unshakably self-disciplined, compassionate nature as a challenge and harm or kill others specifically as a means to attract his attention or make him suffer, such as Keeper Agruss brutally torturing him and Darth Maul wanting nothing but revenge for being cut in half and left to suffer. Still, through it all, he never breaks.
    • Ahsoka. Over the course of the The Clone Wars, she has been beaten, tortured, hunted, nearly killed several times, once literally killed (on an occasion where she was also forced to turn to the Dark Side and attack Anakin and Obi-Wan), and watched several friends and allies suffer and die over the course of the war. Yet despite all of this, she never complains, gives up, and shows any sign of breaking. Although, there's a Heroic BSoD or two. It finally catches up to her in "The Wrong Jedi", though, when she leaves the Jedi Order after everyone save Anakin abandoned or betrayed her when she was framed as a terrorist.
  • Launcher of a Thousand Ships: If it moves, it's likely that Ahsoka has been paired with it. If it's not Ahsoka, then it's Obi-Wan.
  • Love to Hate: Wilhuff Tarkin is a colossal dick to everyone right off the bat. He was introduced during the Citadel arc as badmouthing the Jedi while himself contributing nothing to the escape attempt. His return during the Fugitive arc, where he fixates on Ahsoka as the culprit and refuses to accept evidence to the contrary, only increases his hatedom, especially since the Foregone Conclusion means he'll never get any comeuppance until roughly two decades later. However, his role in The Clone Wars is held up as an example of how to correctly develop an Original Trilogy character's background as well as nicely foreshadowing the rise of the Empire and Anakin's inevitable turn to the Dark Side.
  • Memetic Loser:
    • While General Grievous is nowhere near as badass and intimidating as the version from the non-canon micro-series, there are those who tend to heavily exaggerate his ineffectiveness by hammering his losses and overlooking his victories. Grievous has repeatedly proven himself a better swordsman than most of the characters he has engaged in a lightsaber duel against, with only Kit Fisto and Asajj Ventress actually getting the better of him without having to resort to using the Force. He has also come out on top in each of his confrontations with Obi-Wan. Despite this, he's "best remembered" by Ahsoka beating him (even though she barely survived the fight) and how he got captured by Gungans (regardless of the sacrifice they had to make to capture him in the first place).
    • Commander Fox gets this status due to his moments of being an Unwitting Pawn under Never Live It Down having soured many fans' views of him. While he competently rescues Padmé in the pilot movie and is generally shown as just following orders, fan material tends to exaggerate him as a poor soldier or being excessively incompetent.
  • Misblamed:
    • An inordinate amount of people seem to think that George Lucas is responsible for any problems with The Clone Wars, even though Dave Filoni is the supervising director of the series and there are a handful of different writers. To be fair, the pilot movie and episodes were written on Lucas' orders, and Dave Filoni has also implied that The Clone Wars would have been rather different if not for Lucas being the series' creator and executive producer, but this doesn't apply to some of the most controversial continuity snarls (one of which, amusingly, was written by Katie Lucas, George's daughter, who worked as a guest writer).
    • Likewise, some people blame Filoni or other writers for disregarding certain EU elements even though, by their account, Lucas often exercised Executive Veto power.
  • Misaimed Fandom: The action sequences in The Clone Wars are very praiseworthy, but a disturbing number of fans seem to miss the point of their brutality. Oftentimes The Clone Wars gets comparisons to being much better than other Star Wars media, despite that it's meant to show how the Clone Wars corrupted the Jedi Order and how much of a hellscape it can be.
  • Moe: Ahsoka, Yoda, R2-D2, Rotta the Huttlet, and Numa are absolutely adorable.
  • My Real Daddy:
    • As The Clone Wars is sandwiched between the Prequel Trilogy and the Sequel Trilogy, many have since come to see Dave Filoni as a better creator for Star Wars than either George Lucas or other auteurs that have worked after the Disney acquisition.
    • In a voice acting example, many fans prefer Matt Lanter to be the definitive Anakin Skywalker as opposed to Hayden Christensen.
    • Another voice acting example. Sam Witwer's take on Maul is far more iconic than that of Peter Serafinowicz, who voiced Maul in The Phantom Menace. This is largely due to Serafinowicz's Maul only having three lines, while Witwer's Maul is far more talkative. Witwer became Maul's permanent voice in all following media, including Maul's next live-action film appearance in Solo (which Serafinowicz allegedly returned for in early production, but his voice lines were replaced by Witwer's prior to release.)
  • Never Live It Down:
    • Mace Windu is a popular character in the films, but many found his insensitive comments to Ahsoka in "The Wrong Jedi" after she was found innocent of the bombing of the Jedi Temple hangar hard to forgive. Instead of apologizing to her, he invoked the "Force works in mysterious ways" excuse despite that she was only cleared because Anakin found out the truth by searching for the true culprit of the crime. This was likely the final straw that made Ahsoka leave the Jedi Order. In "Shattered", he coldly shut down her questions even after she captured Maul. This infuriated some fans, to the point of which that a very vocal minority saw Mace as an Asshole Victim who deserved his death (being pumped full of Force lightning) in Revenge of the Sith.
    • Clone Commander Fox is mostly remembered these days for indirectly enabling Emperor Palpatine's rise to power, despite the fact that there is no evidence he was in Palpatine's inner circle. It started in "Heroes on Both Sides" where he let a group of Separatist Demolition Droids disguised as cleaning droids into Coruscant's power station. The Demolition Droids then exploded the power station, which shot down an attempt at peace talks between the Republic and Separatists. Then during the Fugitive arc, he had Ahsoka jailed after she was set up for the murder of Letta Turmond and refused to allow for Anakin to see her, starting the chain of events that led to her becoming a fugitive and then leaving the Jedi Order, thus indirectly having a part in Anakin's turn to the Dark Side. However, the moment that truly cemented his status for this trope in the eyes of the fanbase was his role in "Orders" where he's sent to hunt down Fives when he was deemed a fugitive under the pretense of attempting to kill Palpatine (from whom Fives had learned the truth about the control chips embedded in every clone trooper's brain) and then kills Fives for resisting arrest. This action among others kept the truth about Order 66 from becoming known (beyond a select few individuals) until it was too late. Even though Palpatine and Nala Se are more to blame for Fives' death, Fox gets a lot of heat for firing the killing shot. It got to the point that when Fox got his neck snapped by Vader for failing to inform his men that Vader was on their side in Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith, many perceived it as being Laser-Guided Karma for his actions under the Republic.
    • Rush Clovis, upon his return in "An Old Friend", was no longer the opportunist he was in "Senate Spy", but a reformed man who sought redeem the Banking Clan as its new leader. However, many fans ignore his more heroic goals in favor of pointing out his Entitled to Have You attitude regarding Padmé, even trying to force himself onto her in "The Rise of Clovis", prompting many to cheer Anakin's subsequent No-Holds-Barred Beatdown as saving his wife from an Attempted Rape, even though it's clear that both men were in the wrong.
  • No Yay:
    • In "Cargo of Doom", Cad Bane electrocuted Ahsoka twice: the first was to knock her out and the second time was just for the fun of it before handcuffing her with shackles that hurt the more you struggle. Then, he caressed her head in a rather creepy manner before taking her Padawan braid as a trophy. In "Friends and Enemies", when Ahsoka protected an unconscious Anakin from him, Cad Bane promised her a dance at another time before he left.
    • The way Garnac, the leader of a Trandoshan hunting party, acted towards Ahsoka in "Wookiee Hunt". If the whole kidnapping Jedi children to hunt them down thing wasn't clear enough, he provides lines like these:
      Garnac: She (Ahsoka) can't hide forever! Mark my words, I'll have her skin and nail it to the wall for killing my son!
      Garnac: A valiant effort, little younglings. Especially you, Togruta. You'll be a prized trophy for my collection.
    • The arranged marriage between Lord Otua Blank and Pluma Sodi (note that Lord Blank is an overweight male Belugan and Pluma appears to be a child) in "Bounty" is also this in-universe. Asajj Ventress is clearly disturbed when she learns about this from the Belugan warlord, and that was just another reason for her not to hand Pluma over to him for the bounty she was promised (the first reason her being in a similar predicament to Asajj's childhood).
    • The Zygerria arc is chock full of this, especially in regards to Miraj Scintel's decidedly amorous overtures to Anakin Skywalker — a man she has no problem blackmailing into servitude even knowing his background as a former slave.
  • Older Than They Think:
    • The Clone Wars is praised for being Darker and Edgier than most Star Wars media, sometimes to the point where it is claimed to be either the first or the most mature work in the modern times of the franchise, but The Clone Wars is actually neither, not even limited to the Clone Wars era. Back during the Prequel Trilogy's very heyday, Legends media set during the Clone Wars had a tendency to be equally edgy, if not more so and sometimes in ways that The Clone Wars would not touch due to its channel, format, and target audience. Comics like Star Wars: Republic, video games like Star Wars: Republic Commando and novels like Shatterpoint and Labyrinth of Evil from Legends were essentially adult media, being often exceedingly nasty, intense, psychological, and explorative of concepts like the Dark Side and the consequences of the war (and even the animated micro-series Star Wars: Clone Wars could be included here, given how disturbing it could be at points).
    • Mother Talzin caused some controversy with her unique magick powerset, which included creating energy fields, de-materializing and 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 Continuity Snarl of Ventress' fate was actually not the first time it happened. Back in 2005, a miscommunication between the authors of the Boba Fett: Pursuit novels and the Republic comics caused a snarl in the Clone Wars multi-media project, showing Ventress as a CIS pilot a whole in-universe month after she had been betrayed by Dooku. As this was a very minor case, however, it was easily fixed by a data book retconning Ventress' appearance in Pursuit as it being an unrelated pilot in one of her signature starfighters.
  • Periphery Demographic: The Clone Wars was originally created for kids and pre-teens, but has a very large teen and adult fanbase as a result of its characters, wonderful voice acting, well-written episodes, visually appealing art style and designs, brilliant animation, CallBacks/Futureshadowings to the other works in the franchise, and mature tone and themes.
  • Portmanteau Couple Name:
  • Ron the Death Eater:
    • Lux Bonteri. People seem to hate him for no reason other than he is a heterosexual love interest for Ahsoka, going so far as to defend Barriss' horrible actions in "The Wrong Jedi" and exaggerating his flaws to make the option that Ahsoka is gay look more appealing.
    • Mace Windu is a good example of Good Is Not Nice. But despite the many heroic acts he performs in the series, some fans treat him as an outright Jerkass who treats Anakin and Ahsoka unfairly in fics that don't have a Separatist as an antagonist.
  • Sacred Cow:
    • The Clone Wars is held in high regard as one of, if not the, best works to have ever been produced in the franchise after the Original Trilogy. Even saying that there's any type of flaws or if something else is better than it (especially when it comes to anything made since the Disney acquisition) will draw ire.
    • A few specific story arcs of the series fall under this, where it can be very risky to bring up criticisms:
      • The Mortis arc is the first major example of this to occur in the series, as it is usually pointed towards as being where The Clone Wars began Growing the Beard and significantly added onto the overall lore of the franchise. In addition, the Celestials (the Father, Son, and Daughter) are very popular despite being one-off characters for essentially being an allegory for the Force itself, expanding it beyond just the "Jedi vs. Sith" conflict that had been featured in the franchise up until that point.
      • The Umbara arc has a reputation among fans as being one of the darkest arcs the series has had just yet, fully examining the Clones Are People, Too themes featured but not fully explored up until then by showing what happens when the Clones are placed under the command of someone who outright hates them. Not only that, but Pong Krell is considered to be one of the best antagonists in the overall franchise for just how despicable he ends up being, Dave Fennoy's acclaimed performance, and for showing how corrupted some of the Jedi became as a result of the Clone Wars.
      • The two-parter finale at the end of Season 4 is held in high esteem among fans for one particular reason: bringing back Darth Maul after his absence from the franchise since The Phantom Menace, and recharacterizing him as a cold and calculated psychopath who genuinely loves his brother and mother, rather than a one-note brute. It also helps that Sam Witwer's performance as Maul is now considered to be the definitive voice for the character, to the point where Maul's appearance in Solo is dubbed over by Sam Witwer rather than Peter Serafinowicz.
      • The four-part finale of Season 5 is well-liked for finishing Ahsoka's redemption among fans, showing unabashedly how the Jedi and the Republic had fallen over the course of the Clone Wars, providing one of Anakin's definitive steps towards the Dark Side and strengthening his arc in Revenge of the Sith while providing context for his dissatisfaction with the Jedi, and for coming up with a plausible reason as to why Ahsoka wasn't part of the Jedi Order by the time of ''Revenge of the Sith.
      • The Siege of Mandalore arc in particular, has received praise from many fans and critics alike as being one of the greatest pieces of content, not just of The Clone Wars, but in the entire history of Star Wars, for some even rivaling the quality of the Original Trilogy. It's hailed as a near-perfect conclusion for the series due to the titular Siege of Mandalore being one of its biggest setpieces, the plot running parallel to Revenge of the Sith and being impacted by it as a result, for throwing genuinely unexpected curveballs that don't take away from the enjoyment of the episodes, and for its (relatively) Downer Ending. Making criticisms of these episodes with such high praise can be risky to say the least.
  • Self-Fanservice: It's not as if Ahsoka's outfits do not easily qualify her for Ms. Fanservice already, but around half of the fanart of her on DeviantArt depicts her either in even less clothing and/or with a significantly larger bust, or at least in rather compromising poses. The same goes for Asajj Ventress and Aayla Secura.
  • Special Effects Failure: There are a few animation errors every now and then, but there were some pretty noticeable ones in some sections of the pilot movie and some episodes in the first season (such as "Downfall of a Droid", which is the second episode to be produced while it aired as the fifth episode) along with some of the episodes in the second season that were part of the production line of the first season. Some examples of these types of animation errors include character models missing some components in some shots (a couple of examples would be Commander Cody missing his over-visor in one shot and Captain Rex missing his kama), certain shots being obviously mirrored (this shot of R3-S6), or parts of models briefly clipping through themselves (though unlike the previous two errors, this one rarely happens). Some of the first episodes to be produced also seem to be very extreme with their lighting control, with this scene in "Downfall of a Droid" being a notable example (the medical bays in certain ships aren't supposed to be that bright). Some characters were improperly rendered at times as well, such as Numa at 0:42 here. However, as The Clone Wars progressed, these types of errors became less and less frequent. An archive of animation errors in the first four and a half seasons can be found here.
    • The pilot movie, on top of having animation that is ill-fitting for theatrical release, has many moments, like the Lightsaber fights, where the animation itself feels completely unfinished compared to even the series itself.
  • Squick: The level of violence in The Clone Wars can get more than a little unsettling at times. The worst offender of this is Riff Tamson being blown to bits onscreen, complete with a close-up on his severed head sinking into the deep.
  • Take That, Scrappy!: While Jar Jar was Rescued from the Scrappy Heap in The Clone Wars, some of his rescuing comes at his own expense. For instance, some of the people who don't know him as well are wary of working with him, suggesting they keep him out of some more delicate political matters and let someone more experienced handle the situation. On another occasion, Obi-Wan suggested that Jar Jar should be trained to use a blaster, with Captain Rex bluntly telling him he's not going to the one training him.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
    • Despite Cody being the second-in-command to Obi-Wan, one of Rex's closest friends, and one of the few clones to be first introduced in Revenge of the Sith, he barely appears and never gets much development, despite all the chances the series has to flesh him out. Someone made a compilation of all his lines in the entire series, and it's less than 20 minutes long.
    • The main clones of the 501st (Fives, Echo, Jesse, Kix, Hardcase, Tup, and Dogma) are each given their own personalities, and what we see of them and their interactions is quite interesting, particularly in the Umbara Arc, which is praised for giving the spotlight solely to them. However, outside that arc, they end up remarkably underutilized. Fives gets a satisfying character arc while Echo and Jesse are given more focus in Season 7, but other than that, they barely appear or interact with the main characters.
    • Delta Squad is confirmed as being in Disney's new canon, but absolutely nothing is done with them beyond a single cameo, which many viewed as underutilizing considerably popular characters. There were hopes they'd be seen in action, or some of their tales would be re-canonized. Unfortunately, nearly everything about them is left up in the air.
    • Tholme only appeared in The Clone Wars as a Posthumous Character in Ventress' and Vos' arc, but a grumpy, Sherlock Holmes-esque Jedi spymaster like him could have been interesting to see given the series' penchant to have the main characters investigating mysteries. Tholme being sort of opposed to Qui-Gon Jinn's ways could have also developed an unique relationship with Obi-Wan and Anakin, who live both of them in the defunct Jedi's shadow.
    • Quinlan Vos and Aayla Secura's student-teacher relationship and Clone Wars exploits are considered a particularly strong segment of the Legends continuity. Unfortunately, they barely appear in this show and their storylines (or at last Quinlan's) are significantly changed in ways that have difficulty holding up to their Star Wars: Republic appearances.
    • Despite the Clone Wars' success at fleshing out the Prequel era cast and storylines, two characters who were oddly never revisited were Owen and Beru Lars. While estranged, they are Anakin's family, the closest living connection he had to his mother, Shimi, and they were the ones entrusted by Obi-Wan and Yoda to raise Luke. Yet, the series never once had any of the cast interact with the Lars family, even on the few occasions they returned to Tatooine. They were understandably occupied fighting a galactic war, but it feels slightly jarring that they had no interactions until Obi-Wan showed up one day of the blue to hand them a baby.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
    • Rather bizarrely, Ahsoka and the main 501st clones outside of Rex have never had any interactions before Season 7. This isn't an issue in the early seasons of The Clone Wars, but as the series goes on, Ahsoka's story has more to do with her own adventures in exploring what it means to be a Jedi while the main 501st cast are introduced primarily to accompany Rex's story about the clones' perspective of the war. The closest we get is Ahsoka joining the team that includes Fives and Echo to the Citadel, but that's it. Season 7 has Ahsoka finally interact with Jesse onscreen and acknowledge the death of Fives and Tup, but her close relationship with them comes off as something of an Informed Attribute.
    • While the return of Maul and his antagonistic relationship with Obi-Wan was greatly explored and received, it is odd that Anakin never had much of a reaction to the return of the Sith Lord who murdered his surrogate Father Qui-Qon Jinn.
  • Tough Act to Follow: The popularity of The Clone Wars has set a shadow for the other animated Star Wars series that follow in its wake. While the later shows do have their fans as well, none of them have quite reached the critical acclaim that The Clone Wars has.
  • Unpopular Popular Character: Hondo Ohnaka isn't exactly someone that a lot of people in the galaxy like. Both the Sith and Separatists hate him for either capturing their leaders or humiliating them in some way. He's not too popular with the Jedi either and Obi-Wan, the one Jedi whom Hondo considers his friend, sees having to deal with Hondo as an unpleasant chore. He can be popular with his own men but they would willingly backstab him if they saw an opening, since they're all space pirates. With the fans, however, Hondo is wildly popular as a Breakout Character, and is a main character at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.
  • Visual Effects of Awesome: The Clone Wars is very beautifully animated with expressive faces, smooth movements, visually appealing character designs, a beautiful art style, and downright gorgeous action sequences.
  • What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: From the very beginning, The Clone Wars has thoroughly averted both Non-Lethal Warfare and Never Say "Die" and features some exceptionally brutal Family Unfriendly Deaths along with some very dark, dramatic story arcs that have subjects such as torture, slavery, and murder handled with aplomb. It got to the point where Cartoon Network continued to air content warnings for episodes long after they stopped doing that for their PG-rated shows.
  • What Do You Mean, It's Not Political?: Many of the episodes in the earlier seasons that deal 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 Pandering to the Base that resulted in such episodes all but vanishing in the second half of the third season and onwards.
  • Win Back the Crowd: The Clone Wars managed to re-establish the popular factor that the Star Wars franchise required in order to recover. It also did this for the people who were critical of (or outright despised) the Prequel Trilogy or anything made with George Lucas' involvement for that matter. This resulted in the fans (particularly the ones who adhere to the Original Trilogy) who didn't like the Prequel Trilogy saying that The Clone Wars is what the Prequel Trilogy should have been like.
  • WTH, Costuming Department?: Ahsoka's outfit in the early seasons — it's only a tube top and a skirt. It's very bizarre for someone's that's only 14-years-old, and that she's wearing it during full-time combat. Her other outfits in later seasons do get more modest, though.

    The Pilot Movie 
  • Animation Age Ghetto: The pilot movie suffered from this more than the rest of the series, as the mature tone of The Clone Wars was not established until many episodes later. Reviewers often complained that the pilot movie was "infantilizing Star Wars" by adding a young Kid-Appeal Character to the usual Clone Wars team, treating the story with a lot of simple humor not usually found in CW media, and choosing as its plot an arc about rescuing an Ugly Cute critter whose parentage was more comical than anything.
  • Ass Pull:
    • At the time of the film, Anakin having a Padawan was not easy to fit in the timeline already established by the Clone Wars multi-media project, as the latter had presented many instances in Anakin's career where Ahsoka should have been present or mentioned in a way or another. The reason of this might be that Lucas apparently intended to fridge her at some point to add reasons for Anakin to be troubled before Revenge of the Sith. However, the series later fixed this by becoming effectively part of a new canon that subjected to Broad Strokes or changed entirely some events of the Clone Wars that occurred in Legends.
    • Ziro's involvement in the pilot movie as the mastermind behind Rotta's kidnapping comes completely out of left field, especially after the prologue implied the kidnapping had been a very generic plot by Dooku and his Dark Acolytes.
    • There's some implication of deleted scenes in the episodes that were cut together to make the film, as some character moments seem to come out of nowhere. At one point, Ahsoka is defiantly defending her performance against Anakin while blowing up the Separatist shield in Christophsis, but at the next scene she is sitting with a clear Heroic BSoD that needs Anakin to cheer her up. At another point, Ahsoka goes Cuteness Proximity with Rotta and seems charmed by the idea to take care of him, but at the next scene, she is worried and telling Anakin that she is unprepared for that task, as if some unseen event had made Ahsoka change her mind between takes.
  • Broken Base: Is the pilot movie truly a good or bad work in the Star Wars franchise? The pilot movie is divisive among the fans, mainly because of its writing, animation, and tone. However, at the same time, there are fans that are fond of the pilot movie, mainly through defending it as being decent for viewing.
  • Critical Backlash: The pilot movie was widely panned by critics and, at the time, somehow more contentious than the Prequel Trilogy. Fans have retaliated by defending the pilot movie through noting that while it's not up to the standards set by the other Star Wars films, it wasn't meant to be since the pilot movie was originally intended to air on television in addition to being decent entertainment in its own right. Tellingly, when the series aired its first episode after its pilot movie on the medium that it was intended for (television), critics almost instantly warmed up to it in spite of there not being too much of a change in quality. The episodes included in the pilot movie are still regarded as being inferior in quality to many of the later episodes. It's also not uncommon for The Clone Wars' pilot movie to be listed as the worst theatrical release of any Star Wars film.
  • Critic-Proof: The pilot movie received negative reviews from critics yet grossed $69 million (plus another $25 million in US DVD sales; international DVD sales and other home video sales and TV revenues are unknown) on a TV-tier budget of $8 million for the equivalent of four strung-together episodes.
  • Heartwarming in Hindsight:
    • The pilot movie is sort of a Passing the Torch 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.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight:
    • Anakin's initial reluctance to accept Ahsoka as his padawan before he warms up to her mirrors the exact reaction of many fans upon learning that Anakin would have a padawan, only to grow attached to Ahsoka once she properly developed into a full-fledged character of her own.
    • As of the final season of The Clone Wars, the opening battle. Three in-universe and twelve out-of-universe years later, Anakin took a page out of Obi-Wan's playbook and did the exact same thing.
    • The attempts to portray Rotta the Huttlet as Ugly Cute in-universe (YMMV on whether that applies out-of-universe) now work as hilarious foreshadowing for the reaction the Star Wars fandom had toward Grogu in The Mandalorian.
  • Memetic Badass: The clone trooper who died after breaking his hand punching a battle droid has developed a bit of a following.
  • Presumed Flop: The film is the lowest-grossing Star Wars movie ever, and CostantMusic.com referred to it as "the first bona fide Star Wars flop". Except it wasn't. It earned more than seven times its $8.5 million budget, which isn't bad for what was essentially a Compilation Movie of the first few episodes of the subsequent television series.
  • The Scrappy: Ziro is an unpopular villain for some. To be fair, when stacked up against fan favorites like Dooku, Sidious, Grievous, and Ventress, it's easy to understand why what basically amounts to an incarnation of Jabba's Return of the Jedi persona being put in the Clone Wars would be a bit disliked.
  • So Okay, It's Average: The ultimate consideration of the storyline about Rotta's kidnapping, especially when compared to later arcs of the series. There's even some perception that the creators actually made a huge mistake by choosing this story for the first arc, as it caused the temporary perception The Clone Wars was going to be equally juvenile and silly.
  • Spoiled by the Format: A minor example. In this film, Ventress is uncharacteristically introduced In the Hood and doesn't take it off until it is time to fight, as if her being bald was meant to be a creepy surprise for the audience. This might work for people unfamiliar with Legends' Clone Wars multi-media project, but for those who already knew who Asajj Ventress was, it comes off rather as a moot point.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
    • Mace Windu and Yoda are only peripherally related to the plot, despite one of the draws being that Samuel L. Jackson returned to helm his character, while Yoda only gets a few lines and is mostly doing offscreen things.
    • Commander Cody does some important things, but Rex is the primary clone focused on in the film.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
    • While the film makes it clear that Anakin does have a distaste for Hutts, it is oddly lowkey considering Anakin was a slave from Tatooine and Jabba is a major crime boss who is either directly responsible or at least heavily contributes to the practice of slavery on Tatooine and across the Outer Rim. While Jabba was not personally involved in his and Shimi's enslavement, Jabba and the Hutts create and sustain the environment that led to their enslavement and her eventual death. Yet, Anakin does not have much of a reaction to the Republic and Jedi Order working with Jabba and being forced to rescue his son beyond some mild annoyance at looking after an infant Hutt. This really could have been a great opportunity to explore the divide between Anakin and Jedi Order/Republic as they are willing to turn a blind eye to his enslavement for the sake of gaining access to Hutt space and Anakin would be torn between his duty to the Republic and his past as a slave.
  • Ugly Cute: Rotta the Huttlet looks like a very adorable mixture between a pug and a slug with huge innocent eyes and a huge smile.
  • Vindicated by History: The Clone Wars' pilot movie was disliked upon its release, but those that enjoy the series have since warmed up to it. The dislike of the pilot movie most likely came from that it wasn't an "actual" Star Wars film, but served as the introduction of an interquel series that fills in the gaps of the big event movies and, when taken as four episodes tied together instead of an actual movie, it works more effectively. It also helps that several of what were seen as creative missteps in the pilot movie were fixed relatively quickly in the series, thus allowing them to be seen as Early-Installment Weirdness rather than the glaring faults they were on the pilot movie's initial release. Ahsoka in particular, hated as a Kid-Appeal Character, went on to be beloved by the end of the series and earned her own dedicated live-action show 15 years later.

    Seasons 1 to 2 
  • Animation Age Ghetto: Just like the pilot movie, the first season suffered from this trope through having juvenile elements compared to the subsequent seasons. However, the first season does overcome this trope through having good episodes that allowed for the series to be Growing the Beard.
  • Catharsis Factor: For one of, if not the only times in the franchise, Palpatine is rendered almost completely helpless during Cad Bane's hostage crisis since Orn Free Ta's presence means he can't break his cover to escape his imprisonment in his office. It's utterly satisfying to see Palpatine forced to play along, even if he himself is in no danger from Bane. And it makes it even funnier seeing him having to go to Bane for a holocron in the Season 2 premiere.
  • Creator's Pet: Ahsoka Tano was this in the first season due to being perceived as a Spotlight-Stealing Squad. However, the writers eventually realized that she was getting this treatment and toned down her number of appearances in the subsequent seasons (while making sure that the episodes she did appear in were heavy on Character Development), which resulted in being her taken out of this trope.
  • Growing the Beard: Despite a somewhat rocky start with its contentious pilot movie and clear growing pains on the part of the development team, The Clone Wars began to receive better reception throughout its first season due to having a significant amount of well-received episodes:
    • "Rookies" is very popular for its darker themes and more intense violence, along with establishing additional stakes for the protagonists and introducing the efficient commando droids.
    • "Lair of Grievous" is very popular as well due to being the first episode to spotlight an obscure Jedi (who in this case is Kit Fisto), showing why General Grievous is portrayed differently than the version from the non-canon Clone Wars micro-series along with establishing him as both a more complicated character and a very different kind of threat, and concluding with an exciting lightsaber duel alongside An Aesop about compromising your values and lusting for power under the pretext of war that becomes more prominent during the later seasons.
    • "The Hidden Enemy" is another fan-favorite episode within the first season for the same reasons as "Rookies" in addition to providing background information about the battle on the planet Christophsis in the pilot movie and presenting the battle droids as being intimidating whenever they are using swarming tactics and without the cheap jokes.
    • The Ryloth Trilogy ("Storm Over Ryloth", "Innocents of Ryloth", and "Liberty on Ryloth") is very popular with the fans for the same reasons as "Rookies" along with its dark yet sympathetic tone, great animation, and brilliant writing. While the previous episodes in the first season seemed to mainly follow standard Saturday morning action cartoon plots, the Ryloth trilogy helped establish the signature tendency of showing how locals react to a war on their turf.
    • "Hostage Crisis" is very popular among the fans due to featuring a darker tone, great action and animation, intense violence, and the debut of Cad Bane (air date-wise). This episode perhaps helped lead into covering aspects of the criminal underworld and exploring the perspectives of the antagonists, both of which were well-received by the fans.
    • "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 Big Badass Battle Sequence 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 the first season were more or less over.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Narm: Chairman Chi Cho's death face. It's literally impossible to take seriously.
  • Narm Charm: While there is nothing narmy about Bolla Ropal's death via torture in "Cargo of Doom", the battle droid torturer confirming his death in the B1's distinct high-pitched, nasally voice could have been so. However, Matthew Wood's cold and emotionless delivery while still using his B1 battle droid voice only serves to make the scene more chilling.
  • Obvious Judas: Argyus' betrayal and assistance of Nute Gunray wasn't terribly surprising, with him coming across as strangely nice yet still giving terrible advice that amounts to "abandon your post!" The only surprise for the audience was whether he was going to be revealed as Evil All Along or accept one of Gunray's bribes and pull a Face–Heel Turn.
  • Signature Scene: In "Ambush", Yoda giving his clone troopers a small lesson about them being individuals despite their origin as clones (and that it is their mind which makes them strong, not their numbers or weapons) and later fighting a full battalion of Separatist droids.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Several of General Grievous's appearances in the first season imply that there is a degree of friction between him and Count Dooku, with Grievous's track record and frustration with his incompetent battle droids being particular points of contention. This never goes anywhere and Grievous never shows any sign of discontent towards Dooku again. While Grievous must remain Dooku's general until they both die in Revenge of the Sith, the writers missed out on some prime Character Development for two of the biggest villains in The Clone Wars.
  • WTH, Costuming Department?:
    • Padmé's strapless, backless dress in "Senate Spy". The bodice is basically a square that starts straight under her arms, making it look like it's defying gravity. Plus, due to its rendering on Padmé's model, the neckline looks to be a hair's bredth away from a nip-slip.
    • Suu Lawquane's top matches what a Twi'lek dancer would wear but is a very weird outfit for a farmer who is also a mother. It's an extremely revealing piece that only covers some of her boobs, while the rest of her is on full display. By the time of The Bad Batch, Suu has switched to, well, actual farmer gear that covers her up.

    Seasons 3 to 4 
  • Ass Pull: Some fans considered Darth Maul's survival a twist too hard to swallow given the circumstances of his defeat in The Phantom Menace, where he was bisected at the waist then fell thousands of feet; only one of these would normally be enough to preclude survival, let alone both. Not helping is that the reason offered is that Maul's rage towards Kenobi enabled him to tap into the power of the Dark Side and sustain himself, an explanation that borders on A Wizard Did It. Tropes Are Not Bad, however, as Maul's return was well-received in-and-of-itself due to his character being significantly fleshed out and the episodes in which he appears being among the best of the series.
  • Catharsis Factor:
  • Crazy is Cool: Quinlan Vos is described as being eccentric from the get-go and he's one of the few Jedi that makes Anakin look subtle. He's also very formidable because of this.
  • Creepy Awesome:
    • Mother Talzin. She not only revives Asajj after her betrayal by Count Dooku, but she is able to revive Darth Maul. Bonus points for having the same voice actress as the infamous Rita Repulsa.
    • Darth Maul's appearances in The Clone Wars firmly establish him as a cold-blooded sociopath who cares nothing for murdering innocent people just to spite Obi-Wan. Nevertheless, he remains every bit as badass as he was back in The Phantom Menace.
  • Creepy Cute: In "Altar of Mortis", Ahsoka under the corruption of the Dark Side manages to be both terrifying and adorable at the same time. The pose and Ashley Eckstein's performance when she says the quote below further solidifies this:
    Ahsoka: He only wants what's best for the universe...
  • Crosses the Line Twice: In "Heroes on Both Sides", General Grievous's Rousing Speech to a squad of Demolition Droids designed specifically for suicide-bombing, telling them that none of them will be coming back just after he tells them some of them may not come back and the droids have no complaints about it.
    Grievous: You have been designed for this mission to be the ultimate infiltration units. Some of you may not return. Actually, none of you will return, but don't let that get in your way.
  • Diagnosed by the Audience: Several fans headcanon Dogma as being autistic due to his flat affect, social awkwardness, hyper-fixation on regulations, and difficulty breaking from routine.
  • Epileptic Trees: Season 3 introduced a character named Korkie as nephew to Dutchess Satine Kryze of Mandalore. The only other member of the Kryze family that is ever acknowledged in The Clone Wars is Satine's sister, Bo-Katan. However, it has been confirmed by Pablo Hildago that Bo-Katan isn't Korkie's mother. This has led many fans to compare Korkie's appearance with his "aunt" Satine and her former lover, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and come to the conclusion that he was an illegitimate love child conceived during Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon's visit to Mandalore before the events of The Phantom Menace, who was raised as Satine's nephew rather than her son because of her position in Mandalorian politics.
  • Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory: This was intentional by the writers for the Mortis arc, which features a lot of symbolism and Mind Screw.
    Dave Filoni: If I answer directly what something is, I feel that I'll be robbing you of the purpose of that arc, which is to make you wonder; it's to make you challenge certain ideas, to ask certain questions.
  • Evil Is Cool: Pong Krell, despite being an utter Hate Sink, has a fair amount of fans thanks to having a Badass Bartione, his extremely manipulative personality, putting up an impressive fight against a whole army of Clones, and Dave Fennoy's deliciously evil performance. It certainly helps that, although Krell is 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.
  • Growing the Beard: The general consensus is that the beard of The Clone Wars finished its growth during the third season due to the Nightsisters and Brothers arc and the Mortis arc, which pushed The Clone Wars into a darker territory.
  • He's Just Hiding: After "Counterattack", many fans were convinced that Echo might've survived the shuttle explosion, considering we never saw a body and were only given a shot of his charred helmet. In Season 7, the Bad Batch arc confirms this to be true. Echo wasn't killed in the explosion, although he did lose his legs and right arm.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight:
    • The second episode of MADtv has Gary Anthony Williams doing a parody of Count Dooku (or "Count Poo-Poo"). One year later, he is voicing Riff Tamson, one of Dooku's subordinates, in The Clone Wars.
    • During the Citadel arc, Stephen Stanton voiced Captain Tarkin, who was on the run from a Separatist prison, chased by the prison warden Osi Sobeck, a Phindian, voiced by James Arnold Taylor. Aiding Tarkin in the escape was Obi-Wan Kenobi, also voiced by James Arnold Taylor. Almost exactly a season later during the Obi-Wan Undercover arc, Stephen Stanton voiced Moralo Eval, a Phindian on the run from a Republic prison, aided (and secretly thwarted) by Rako Hardeen, who was also voiced by James Arnold Taylor.
    • A line in "A Friend in Need" has Ahsoka telling Lux Bonteri "Careful not to choke on your stupidity". In what is either an amazing coincidence or the writers paying very good attention to the EU, Darth Vader says the line almost verbatim (changing only "stupidity" to "aspirations") when Force-choking Krennic in Rogue One.
    • When Cad Bane's droids are trying to find R2 to steal Republic secrets from his memory banks, they shoot a different astromech instead and a protocol droid with the astromech runs away in terror. These droids just happen to look almost identical to Chopper and AP-5, the two central central droid characters from Rebels.
    • A Wham Shot at the end of "Witches in the Mist" revealed that Maul was still alive, who was presumed dead back in The Phantom Menace. Come the trailer for The Rise of Skywalker about eight years later, his old master Palpatine is back as well.
    • In "Prisoners", Kit Fisto quips "Eels. Very dangerous." as an obvious Shout-Out to Sallah's line "Asps. Very dangerous." from Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indy's fear of snakes. Indy would end up having to face off against a bunch of dangerous eels in his final movie nearly 12 years later.
  • It Was His Sled: Lucasfilm never seemed particularly concerned with keeping Darth Maul's return much of a secret. He was even featured on the cover of the Season 4 Blu-ray/DVD case.
  • Love to Hate: Pong Krell is very contemptuous towards the clone troopers serving under him and a massive Smug Snake before being outed as a villain. Very few will deny that what he did throughout the Umbara arc (especially in "Carnage of Krell") was absolutely despicable. However, fans like him as a character both before and after his true colors are revealed precisely because of this, providing not only a good obstacle for the clone troopers from a narrative standpoint, but also demonstrating the corruption of war on the Jedi Order. Plus he's voiced by Dave Fennoy, which automatically gives him a badass voice. And his death at the hands of Dogma was incredibly cathartic.
  • Moral Event Horizon:
    • Pong Krell crosses it when he states that Jesse and Fives will be court martialed, found guilty, and executed. Worse still, when Rex tries to argue against it, he just decides to straight-up execute them without trial. If that doesn't already qualify, he definitely crosses it both in- and out-of-universe when he tricks the clone troopers into killing each other, as this is the point even the clone troopers decide he's gone too far. When confronted on this, he reveals he's actually been a traitor the entire time.
    • Keeper Agruss makes it clear right off the bat what kind of person he is by dropping several slaves to their deaths just to make a point to Obi-Wan about what would happen if he refused to obey him.
    • Pre Vizsla crossed his by ordering the burning of a village that Death Watch had been terrorizing simply because they demanded the return of the women he had kidnapped, particularly the chief's daughter. Not only did he burn down the village and kill countless villagers, he started the massacre by returning the chief's daughter, only to literally stab her in the back immediately afterwards.
    • Darth Maul has his moment by murdering a village full of innocent people, including young children, just to get Obi-Wan's attention.
      Darth Maul: With the galaxy at war, Savage, there is only one way to draw the attention of the Jedi: slaughter of the innocent. Mercilessly and without compromise.
  • Narm:
    • The amount of times the word "corruption" is said in... "Corruption".
    • The name of Satine's nephew is Korkie. It's hard to explain, but that name just cannot be taken seriously.
    • One that's more in hindsight than it is at the time, but upon being shot with a poison dart in "Nightsisters", Count Dooku stares at the dart and angrily shouts "What sorcery is this?", even although he doesn't know yet it is a work of literal magick-wielding witches. Count Dooku is a man who fights with a laser sword, can shoot lightning from his hands, and... apparently believes a poison dart is sorcery.
    • Pong Krell's "oof!" when he gets fatally shot, as it sounds more like someone stubbing a toe.
  • Narm Charm:
    • Maul having spider legs (and not generic mechanical legs, but literal spider legs, with an extra spider body) in "Brothers" sounds hard to take seriously at first, but Sam Witwer manages to portray how far he's fallen over the years and makes it one of the scariest scenes in the series to behold.
    • As unintentionally funny as Pong Krell's "oof" is, the scene is still so satisfying that it becomes hard to notice.
  • Obvious Judas:
    • "The Academy" focuses on 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 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 Prime Minister Almec, who is suddenly a lot more prominent in this episode than the other episodes in the Mandalore arc, and to whom the job of catching the smugglers was delegated, only for them to still operate unopposed.
    • Even before he was revealed to be Evil All Along, Pong Krell was nothing but horrible to the clones, throwing them into dangerous missions against their wills and verbally abusing them when they defy his suicidal orders. It comes as no surprise when it's revealed that he's getting them killed on purpose and planning on defecting to the separatists. The only genuine surprise is just how horrible Krell turns out to be.
  • Older Than They Think: The concept of a cyborg Darth Maul was originally used in the non-canon comic Star Wars: Visionaries. The character's initial appearances (up until receiving a redesign during the fifth season) are directly based on his portrayal in said comic.
  • One-Scene Wonder:
  • Pandering to the Base: Dave Filoni acknowledged the polarizing reaction towards the first half of the third season (which was focused on heavily on politics, trade blockades, bank interests, etc.) and said that the amount of such episodes would be severely cut down.
  • Questionable Casting: Simon Pegg being the voice of Dengar in "Bounty" raised some eyebrows due to his frequent criticism of the Prequel Trilogy and the Special Edition and Blu-Ray versions of the Original Trilogy along with him taking every opportunity he can to bash anything Star Wars post-1983, even the people who like them. Some hated that he'd be allowed to be involved in the franchise, while others found satisfaction that die hard Prequel Trilogy detractor Simon Pegg found that The Clone Wars (or at least his role) lived up to his standards of Star Wars.
  • Rooting for the Empire: A lot of people actually rooted for General Grievous and his Separatist droid army in "Massacre", likely reasons for this being the Nightsisters being a culture of misandrists and also General Grievous' Rule of Cool.
  • Shocking Moments: The Mortis arc's high points of this include the first time Qui-Gon Jinn appears (played by Liam Neeson, no less!) in The Clone Wars, Ahsoka being corrupted to the Dark Side and fighting Anakin and Obi-Wan, and the sequence where the Son shows Anakin what he is destined to become. There are bonus points for the subtle notes of the Imperial March as a dark cloud in the shape of Darth Vader appears.
  • Signature Scene:
    • In "Ghosts of Mortis", the Son showing Anakin his future, which ends with an image of Vader's helmet.
    • In "Brothers", Darth Maul's return after Savage discovers and rescues him.
    • In "Revenge", Obi-Wan's reunion with Darth Maul at the burning Raydonia village. Also, Obi-Wan and Ventress versus Darth Maul and Savage Opress.
  • Strawman Has a Point:
    • In "Corruption", Duchess Satine of Mandalore is shocked to discover just how far corruption has spread throughout her government. When she, Padmé, and her guards manage to find and apprehend smugglers bringing in tea which they have diluted with toxic chemicals, she orders the facility burned to the ground. The commander of the police protests that there is evidence in the building, but Satine explains that if he does not comply she will consider him a co-conspirator with the smugglers and then she goes off to find out just how high this conspiracy reaches. His initial disinterest in investigating her accusations certainly was suspicious, but by ignoring his advice and burning down the building, Satine has eliminated any chance of finding records or documentation listing who was involved in the smuggling program, physical evidence placing people at the scene, etc. For a person who claims she is interested in following the web back to its source, Satine ignores rather legitimate points about proper criminal investigations. It also pretty much helps Almec keep from getting caught.
    • In "Heroes on Both Sides", the message of the episode appears to be that not all of the Separatists are evil. In fact, most of the Separatist people are not. Just the various leaders and villains of the week that show up from time to time. Anakin is clearly shown to not agree with this, viewing all of the Separatists as wrong at best and evil at worst. The problem with writing him off as the narrow-minded one though is that the only remotely decent Separatist characters we ever meet are the Bonteris and Bec Lawise. And Mina Bonteri and Lawise are both later killed by the man they openly admired, Count Dooku, and the death of the former prompts her son Lux to abandon the Separatists. Between this and all later named Separatist characters also being evil, it becomes a lot harder to disagree with Anakin's viewpoint. In fairness, most of these Separatist characters are the military leaders of the movement. We rarely if ever see much of the Separatist Senate or civilian populationnote , most of whom seem to be kept in the dark about the true nature of the Separatist Military and the war they are waging.
  • Squick: Ziro (a purple, Camp Straight, 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 "Hunt for Ziro". Even worse, when Ziro asks Sy if she really cares about him, she answers "From the bottom of my fluid sac." Granted, the fluid sac is basically the Pa'lowicks' version of a heart, but that doesn't make what she says any less nauseating.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: The Retcon in "Sphere of Influence" placing Greedo as a rather generic bounty hunter, overriding his extremely tragic and compelling story from Legends' Tales from the Mos Eisely Cantina is seen by some as both extremely reductive and utterly unnecessary for the story the episode was telling.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
    • Count Dooku suggests in the third season that he plans to betray Darth Sidious and become the new Dark Lord of the Sith. After Savage leaves Dooku's service, this plot point is never mentioned again, with Dooku spending the remainder of The Clone Wars as Sidious' loyal subordinate. Again, while Dooku remaining Sidious' apprentice is a Foregone Conclusion, it's still a lot of wasted story potential. Though What Could Have Been before the cancellation would have gotten to the Dark Disciple arc, which is now a novel and does allude to Dooku's intended betrayal.
    • "Counterattack" ends with Echo getting caught in an explosion and being presumed dead. Fives just lost his closest brother and last remaining squadmate. Rex just lost someone he saw as a little brother. The next episode, "Citadel Rescue", is full of moments where it would make perfect sense to have them talk about their loss, particularly after the death of Master Piell. Instead, despite Fives clearly being upset at the end of "Counterattack", no one even mentions Echo for the rest of the arc. It's not until Season 7 that we actually see anyone mourning Echo.
    • While the Umbara arc is still held in high regard by fans as one of the series' best story arcs, some fans expressed disappointment with The Reveal that Krell was Evil All Along rather than just a hard-headed, reckless Jedi. It could have opened possibilities for the clones to consider whether or not the Jedi really are up to the task of being war generals if their reckless tactics get many of their brothers needlessly killed, sparking a new perspective on the clones' willingness to go through with Order 66, or even dealt with the concept of fragging their officer to avoid going through with suicidal orders.
    • A common criticism of the Zygerria arc is that while Anakin's past as a slave is focused on, the fact that Rex and the other clones are also slaves to the Republic is never brought up, and Rex spends most of the story arc in the background. This ignores the chance to explore both Anakin's feelings about having become complicit in the Republic's hypocrisy, and Rex's opinion about his situation, particularly after what he just went through during the Umbara arc.
    • "Heroes on Both Sides", offered a rare depiction of otherwise good Separatists, in the form of Mina Bonteri, as well and her son, Lux, who proudly identifies as a Separatist, who makes a push for peace negotiations with the Republic. The very following episode, she's killed off, and most of the notions of gray morality in the war are shoved to the side, and rarely brought up again.
  • Unexpected Character: Up until "Witches of the Mist", there was no indication whatsoever that Darth Maul would appear in The Clone Wars, much less that he was alive and well, or would become a major antagonist.

    Seasons 5 to 6 
  • Arc Fatigue: The mission that the D-squad is sent to do is resolved in "Secret Weapons", the very first episode of their four-part arc, with the next three episodes being basically the characters suffering detour after detour to return home. It doesn't help that most of the cast are astromech droids, and the two characters whose dialogue is understandable... well, you wish they weren't. Thankfully, it was followed by two of the most beloved and acclaimed arcs of the show.
  • Broken Base: Some fans feel that the inhibitor chips are a great idea, as they perfectly explain why the clones were so willing to shoot their former leaders, whom they respected immensely, and add a level of tragic irony to the clones' story (where after all their efforts not to be seen as mindless droids, they end up becoming just that in the end). Others feel that taking away the clones' agency in Order 66 (instead of choosing to obey Order 66, they were simply brainwashed to do so) makes them less interesting as characters, and removes a lot of the grey morality that previous works in Legends used in their depictions of the order.
  • Captain Obvious Reveal: In "The Wrong Jedi", 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 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.
  • Creepy Awesome: Darth Sidious, especially in "The Lawless" where he firmly establish how beyond the cast he is and continues to be the display the same sadism he's known for.
  • Draco in Leather Pants:
    • Hondo Ohnaka is this during the Young Jedi arc. For some reason, a large portion of the fandom was left puzzled by his willingness to kill children in "A Test of Strength" and "Bound for Rescue", claiming that it was completely Out of Character for him. This is surprising considering the evil stuff he had pulled in his earlier appearances, particularly capturing Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Dooku (along with torturing the former two) and threatening to kill Felucian farmers if they didn't hand over their crop to him. He also very much enjoyed shooting at said Felucians with a tank when they dared try to protect themselves.
    • Despite the terrible actions that she made during the Fugitive arc, Barriss Offee hasn't gotten nearly as much hate as one would suspect. It certainly helps that she was right in her views, though not her actions, and the Jedi Order she opposes is already perceived as Lawful Stupid in the eyes of many.
  • Informed Wrongness: In the Clovis arc, Anakin walks in on Clovis trying to force a kiss on Padmé, 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. Padmé even tells him to stay away from her, as if it was Anakin who crossed a line, rather than Clovis.
    • It makes the scene worse of anyone read Queen's Shadow where it wasn't the first time Clovis forced a kiss on Padmé.
  • It Was His Sled: Satine's mysterious sister turning out to be Bo-Katan. Given how much exposure and popularity Bo-Katan has received in recent years, this twist is fairly well known.
  • Moral Event Horizon:
    • If whatever Darth Maul has done before hasn't set this in stone yet, his callous, brutal murder of Duchess Satine, which is done only to torture Obi-Wan, certainly has. Not just the act itself, but the sadistic pleasure he takes in Obi-Wan's suffering.
    • Barriss Offee crosses this by arranging the bombing of the Jedi Temple hangar and then killing the pawn she used to orchestrate it and framing Ahsoka (her friend) for those crimes and more, which nearly resulted in Ahsoka being sentenced to death.
    • If placing inhibitor chips in all the clone troopers wasn't atrocious enough, Kaminoan scientist Dr. Nala Se may have crossed it when she attempted to have Tup euthanized for having Order 66 prematurely triggered (something beyond his control) and then tried to have AZI-3 and Fives mind-wiped for coming close to discovering the truth. If not that, her alternative MEH may have been when she drugged Fives on the trip to Coruscant, causing him to become paranoid and ultimately resulting in his death at the hands of his own brothers.
  • Narm:
    • Ganodi's disproportionate breakdown in "The Gathering" when confronted with a large number of Kyber crystals, especially since she was previously whining about not being able to find any crystals. Now, she's whining about there being too many.
    • Savage giving a panther roar in "Eminence".
    • Pre Vizsla's unconvincing yell as he charges Maul in "Shades of Reason" is an amusingly off note in an otherwise intensely badass duel.
  • One-Scene Wonder: In "Sacrifice", Darth Bane's appearance and the fact that he was voiced by Mark Hamill are this.
  • Padding: "A Sunny Day in the Void" is perhaps the most uneventful episode of the series, mostly consisting of D-Squad, Colonel Gascon, and WAC-47 wandering around the desert planet Abafar for 22 minutes. The only reason the episode seems to exist is as character development for two characters whom nobody really liked and it's not hard to imagine how it could have been made more interesting or replaced with an episode that was more exciting. To make matters worse, D-Squad more or less complete their mission in the previous episode and the events that occur in "A Sunny Day in the Void" are just caused by a Diabolus ex Machina that prevents them from returning home.
  • Questionable Casting: While initially seen as a fitting choice, reception to Tim Curry's Palpatine was mixed, with some arguing he was perfect for Darth Sidious but unconvincing as Chancellor Palpatine, and others saying Curry's voice is simply too distinctive/different from both McDiarmid and Abercrombie's to convincingly work as Palpatine.
  • Ron the Death Eater: After the Fugitive arc, the members of the Jedi Council have the tendency of getting a larger chunk of blame for Ahsoka leaving the Jedi Order rather than Barriss, who made a good point about the Jedi losing their way in the war despite having orchestrated the bombing of the Jedi Temple hangar and framed Ahsoka for the crime. Mace Windu is the member of the Jedi Council who receives most of the blame due to him making a rather insensitive comment towards Ahsoka after she was found innocent of the bombing of the Jedi Temple hangar: Instead of apologizing to her, he invoked the "Force works in mysterious ways" excuse despite the fact that she was only cleared because Anakin found out the truth by searching for the true culprit of the crime.
  • The Scrappy: WAC-47 and Colonel Gascon are disliked in the D-Squad arc, with some considering the duo to be so annoying that they made comparisons to Jar Jar Binks.
  • Shocking Moments: Any time Darth Maul shows up, expect one of these. For instance:
    • In "Eminence" and "Shades of Reason", Maul led a band of Mandalorian warriors and completely owned the Hutts and Black Sun in addition to taking over all of Mandalore. In the previous Expanded Universe works, it's been established that going up against the Hutts or Black Sun (much less both at once) is more or less suicide, which makes it more impressive that Darth Maul took them both down one after another and made them his vassals. In short, no other Star Wars character in the past has accomplished a feat as awesome as what Darth Maul did by defeating the Hutt Clan and Black Sun in such a brutal and effective fashion. Granted, a lot of the older EU works where the Hutts and Black Sun are practically undefeatable (unless for if you're Luke, Leia, or Han) are now non-canon thanks to the Disney buyout. However, it's still pretty impressive how he was able to bring to heel two of the most powerful criminal organizations in the galaxy and take over Mandalore.
    • Darth Sidious actually fighting in "The Lawless". Darth Maul and Savage always posed a huge menace by themselves. However, Sidious not only pulls a massive Eviler than Thou, but The Clone Wars has managed to enhance his existing abilities with the Force and reduces Darth Maul to begging for mercy.
  • Signature Scene:
    • In "The Lawless", Darth Maul murdering Satine in front of Obi-Wan and Darth Maul and Savage Opress versus Darth Sidious.
    • In "The Wrong Jedi", Anakin versus Barriss Offee and Ahsoka leaving the Jedi Order.
  • Stoic Woobie: Obi-Wan, as of "The Lawless".
  • Squick: When questioned by Mace Windu about where he had been all night during their mission to Bardotta in "The Disappeared, Part 1", Jar Jar loudly and proudly admits that he was "loving Queenie Julia".
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
    • Barriss Offee's motivations for bombing the Jedi Temple hangar are understandable and sympathetic since she makes a good point that the Jedi Order and the Republic were losing their ways over the course of the war. A model Jedi gradually losing all faith in the Order, deciding to take drastic action to make the Jedi chance their course, and falling more and more to the dark side in the process would have made for an amazing subplot. Instead, all of this development happens entirely offscreen.
    • Luminara Unduli is completely absent in "The Wrong Jedi", which includes the revelation that her Padawan learner Barriss Offee has become a Knight Templar terrorist responsible for the bombing of the Jedi Temple hangar. This makes her exclusion rather glaring. On a lesser scale Obi-Wan is probably the Jedi Master to know Ahsoka the best besides Anakin, so it's a little disappointing that his contribution to helping her is arguing in a Council meeting against Ahsoka's expulsion from the Order and for supporting her at the very beginning, and then literally not saying a word for the rest of the episode even when she is offered the chance to rejoin the Jedi.
  • Ugly Cute: Embo's pet anooba, Marrok. Anoobas are vicious hyena-wolf creatures capable of tearing a man's throat out, but Marrok is like a puppy whenever he is not fighting. His more adorable side is best shown in "An Old Friend", where he can be seen giving Embo a sentry droid like he's wanting to play fetch or retrieving his hat when he loses it.

    Season 7 
  • Award Snub: While many were pleased to see the finale season of The Clone Wars recognized at the Emmys, it was only nominated for Writing, Sound Design, and Music, only three categories among several artists that poured their soul into this season, specially the voice actors, directors, and visual artists. Sam Witwer in particular was robbed for his surprisingly frightened performance as Maul, dreading the Foregone Conclusion.
  • Continuity Lockout:
    • Darth Maul was last seen utterly defeated by Darth Sidious. You need to read the comic Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir, 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 Sabine can make it even more confusing.
    • To a lesser extent; despite being prominent supporting characters up to this point, 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 Dark Disciple respectively.
  • Crosses the Line Twice: Anakin killing Admiral Trench in "Unfinished Business". Cutting off Trench's cybernetic arms, impaling him, and taking a detonator to blow up his fleet all while the Emperor's theme plays in the background? Horrifying. Anakin quipping "Admiral, it was a pleasure" while Trench's body twitches on the ground (including his remaining arms curling up like a spider's legs)? Hilarious, even if it makes you hate yourself for laughing.
  • Epileptic Trees:
    • In light of the series' revival, there was much speculation on what the twelve new episodes in Season 7 would be about. The most common suggestions among many tended to be the unfinished story reels and the Siege of Mandalore, though others believed the episodes could be something else. Tom Kane also revealed that he recorded five new episodes for Season 7, leading some to speculate if they were either for the opening narrations or for brand new episodes. At Celebration Chicago, the Bad Batch arc and the Siege of Mandalore arc were confirmed, and a few fans were also able to correctly predict that Ahsoka's Journey arc would appear in this season.
    • With the seventh season coming shortly after the conclusion of Rebels, some fans eventually started theorizing about minor revisions that could be made to the unreleased episodes to connect with Rebels and other canon works. Specifically, Depa Billaba and Caleb Dume/Kanan making cameos in the Jedi Temple (which they do in "Old Friends Not Forgotten") and/or Depa being in the Jedi Council and saying that she's taking her Padawan and men to Kaller, and Fenn Rau and/or Ursa Wren (with a mention or cameo of a baby Sabine) at the Siege of Mandalore (Ursa does appear in the Siege and the preceding arc as well). There was also speculation on other characters such as the Mandalorian as a young Din Djarin, Moff Gideonnote , Cal Kestis and Jaro Tapal. Ultimately, most of these barring Ursa Wren, Depa Billaba, and Caleb Dume did not appear.
    • A few have theorized that Ahsoka's new outfit in the SDCC '18 trailer is Mandalorian-designed. Evidence supporting this theory is that Ahsoka's headpiece and skirt bear a resemblance to Bo-Katan's headband and Ursa Wren's skirt respectively. Come the Celebration Chicago trailer, the design on her outfit also looks similar to the pattern of Mandalorian armor. Some believe it might be a gift from Bo-Katan and the Nite Owls after their previous encounter on Carlac and their Heel–Face Turn when Maul took over Mandalore, and that it could've belonged to Bo-Katan herself before she joined Death Watch. The episode guide for "Old Friends Not Forgotten" confirmed that the outfit is Mandalorian-designed.
    • The final trailer includes a shot of a conversation between Anakin and Padmé via holoprojector where the latter is obviously pregnant. The fact that Anakin only finds out that Padmé is pregnant early in Revenge of the Sith, combined with the fact that the outfit she's wearing in the scene is the one she wears to Mustafar in the film, caused speculation to run rampant about its meaning, with theories ranging from that it's a retcon of some kind to that it takes place during the events of the film... or that Anakin is hilariously unobservant. Ultimately, the scene is in "A Distant Echo", and it's indicated that "unobservant" is the correct answer (albeit, Padmé's pregnancy is only obvious because we already know about it and she really isn't showing that much).
    • In Rebels, Rex revealed that he had removed his biochip that would have compelled him to execute Order 66. Most fans assumed that Rex removed his biochip prior to Revenge of the Sith due to him personally researching what happened to Fives and discovering the truth but many sharp-eyed viewers noticed that Rex lacks a scar on the back of his head (that would have indicated a biochip removal) in the Siege of Mandalore arc. Some wondered if it's an animation error or if Rex's removal of the biochip happened much later than expected. It turns out that Rex still had his biochip in head during Order 66, meaning that rather avoid the horror as many thought, he was among the many clones trying to kill Ahsoka, albeit unwillingly.
  • Friendly Fandoms: Fans of Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049 were quick to note the similarities in music and theme towards the end of the season, and subsequently sum up the Downer Ending as "All these moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain."
  • Heartwarming in Hindsight:
    • At the Ahsoka's Untold Tales panel for Celebration Europe 2016, Ashley Eckstein learned about the Siege of Mandalore for the first time, with one of the storyboards shown being a scene where Ahsoka is greeted with a legion that painted their helmets after her. Three years and the series' revival later at Celebration Chicago 2019, she got to see the scene animated and voice acted.
    • In a mix of this and Harsher in Hindsight, Padmé's final scene in The Clone Wars is in "A Distant Echo", where she tells Anakin she loves him.
    • Ahsoka and Rex's reunion in Rebels becomes even more moving with the reveal that Ahsoka herself removed Rex's chip.
  • I Knew It!: There were many guesses for what story arcs would be in the seventh season of The Clone Wars, and the three that were predicted were the Bad Batch arc, Ahsoka's Journey arc (albeit modified according to Word of God), and the Siege of Mandalore arc.
  • Informed Wrongness: Obi-Wan insisting the Jedi return to Coruscant to stop Grievous from abducting Palpatine is treated as a moral failing, with him more interested in, as Ahsoka puts it, playing politics rather than caring about what happens to the people. Even ignoring that preventing the Chancellor of the Republic from being taken hostage is a pretty far cry from political manuevering, Obi-Wan is choosing to prioritze defending one of the most populated planets in the galaxy and striking directly at the Separatist leadership which could end the Clone Wars entirely over saving one sparsely populated planet from a tyrant.
  • Les Yay: Trace Martez becomes very enamoured with Ahsoka not long after they meet and is very quick to involve her in her life, giving her her trust and faith. Her sister, Rafa, is often displeased by this and often makes a point of needling Ahsoka for it. Ahsoka, in turn, is afraid of losing Trace's friendship if the latter was to find out she's a former Jedi (whom the sisters both distrust).
  • Mis-blamed: 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 long time to make, and the teaser clearly had fully animated segments, it had to have been in the works well before that.
  • Moral Event Horizon: If what Wat Tambor did during the Ryloth arc isn't enough, he definitely does this trope during the Bad Batch arc when he captures Echo and experiments on him, turning him into an algorithm against his will (not to mention making him relive his last moments at the Citadel).
  • Narm Charm:
    • The SDCC '18 trailer that announced the revival of The Clone Wars feels almost fan-made with its first half being a shot of numerous clone trooper helmets with archival audio played, reused music from a trailer for The Force Awakens playing in its second half, and it ending with the rather unprofessional #CloneWarsSaved, but all of this is forgiven because of the love and care that went into the reveal.
    • Rex and Echo's heartfelt goodbye in "Unfinished Business" has the latter throw a salute with his right arm, which ends in a data probe. It looks a little silly, but it's a genuinely emotional moment.
  • One-Scene Wonder:
    • Despite appearing in the series since its pilot movie, General Grievous qualifies as this in Season 7 because of his redesign. He only appears for two seconds in the Opening Narration of "Old Friends Not Forgotten", but his redesign has become incredibly popular for being a Creepy Awesome update of his original The Clone Wars design and closer to his Revenge of the Sith appearance, which made many wish he had a major role in the season so we could see more of him.
    • Depa Billaba and Caleb Dume make brief cameos in the Opening Narration of "Old Friends Not Forgotten".
    • Dryden Vos making a cameo via a hologram as one of the crime lords Maul orders to go into hiding in "The Phantom Apprentice".
    • Post-scarring Darth Sidious makes only one appearance in "Shattered", but it's the crux of the episode, he's saying his most infamous line, with archival audio from Ian McDiarmid himself!
    • Darth Vader, the Stormtroopers, Snowtroopers, an Imperial probe droid, and an Imperial shuttle making cameo appearances in the epilogue of the Grand Finale, "Victory And Death".
  • The Scrappy: The Martez sisters were disliked by fans because of their constant idiotic and reckless decisions, the fact they took up an entire arc of the final season with their antics, and a perceived lack of depth. Out of the two of them, Rafa gets the most hate because of her unpleasant personality and Never My Fault tendencies.
  • Shocking Moments:
    • The announcement of The Clone Wars getting revived five years after its cancellation. Almost no-one expected it to come back, and its presentation was also a successful Bait-and-Switch at the SDCC '18 10th anniversary panel, where the series was deliberately talked about in past tense before announcing its revival at the very end.
    • It's a small moment, but in the Celebration Chicago trailer, Ahsoka's lightsabers are now blue.
    • The Not His Sled moment in "Shattered": Rex complying with Order 66, retconning Star Wars: Ahsoka stating that Rex removed his chip before Order 66 and seemingly contradicting Rex's statement in Star Wars Rebels about having removed his chip ("I never betrayed my Jedi.").
  • Special Effect Failure: Although the animation is otherwise excellent, the first three episodes all having an instance of the extremely common "missing kama" Off-Model blooper cannot pass without notice.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
    • While the Ahsoka's Journey arc isn't considered bad, it is generally seen as taking up space that could've been spent on a bigger story like the Crystal Crisis on Utapau arc, the Bounty Hunter arc, the Kashyyyk arc, or else an adaptation of Son of Dathomir or Dark Disciple. This makes far more sense when you know it was actually a toss-up between whether Rafa and Trace or the Bad Batch would get their own show, and the sisters would need just as much setup.
    • Despite being the direct lead-up to Revenge of the Sith, Palpatine's kidnapping is not shown, and is only briefly alluded to in "Old Friends Not Forgotten". Given that all the works that portray it now belong to Legends, it is just a missed chance.
  • Visual Effects of Awesome: Thanks to advancements in animation technology and other touch-ups on the series' animation, the art style and animation look more expressive, vibrant, and smooth. Special mention goes to the lightsaber duel between Maul and Ahsoka in "The Phantom Apprentice", which was first motion-captured and thus makes the duel itself look much more fluid than the duels usually seen on the show.
  • Win Back the Crowd:
    • After the Star Wars franchise saw turbulence with The Last Jedi's polarization and Solo's Box Office Bomb, Dave Filoni announced at 2018 San Diego Comic Con that The Clone Wars would be returning for a new 12-episode season. This news was met with universal praise from Star Wars fans, including ones who have been very unhappy with Disney's handling of the franchise.
    • The Siege of Mandalore arc is considered a major redeemer by fans for the franchise after the divisive conclusion of the Sequel Trilogy, The Rise of Skywalker.

Comic

  • Complete Monster:
    • Issues #1-6—"Slaves of the Republic" arc: The Keeper of the Kavado mining facility is a smug Zygerrian tasked with breaking their slaves, the latest being the population of planet Kiros. Tasked with breaking the will of Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Keeper drops few of them into the lava to show Kenobi the consequences of disobedience. The Keeper places Obi-Wan with other slaves and has ones whom he tries to help beaten to break Kenobi's spirit and alienate him from the other slaves. When the Jedi and the Republic attack his prison, the Keeper threatens to drop all of the slaves into lava. After Separatists attack to destroy his facility and frame the Republic for the deaths of the people of Kiros, the Keeper desperately tries to kill all of the slaves in hopes of saving his own life.
    • Issues #7-9—"In Service of the Republic" arc: Warlord Unger Gout is the Separatist leader on Khorm, who 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 Weather-Control Machine to keep the Republic forces off of Khorm, even though it devastates the planet's ecosystem and causes many deaths. A 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.

Alternative Title(s): Star Wars The Clone Wars Movie, Star Wars The Clone Wars Season One To Season Six, Star Wars The Clone Wars Season Seven

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