History HarsherInHindsight / StarWarsTheCloneWars

* In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS7E4UnfinishedBusiness Unfinished Business]]" (which was written in 2012, released as an animatic in 2015, and officially completed in 2020), Admiral Trench has a Plan B that involves [[EarthShatteringKaboom blowing up Anaxes]] with a bomb. While the Jedi succeed in disarming the bomb in that episode, ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels Rebels]]'' would show that the planet somehow got blown up after the war anyway, leaving behind an asteroid belt with only the Fort Anaxes military base and a nest of fyrnocks inhabiting it. The databank says it was destroyed in a cataclysm, but given everything else involving the bomb, it leaves one to wonder.

* The events of the Geonosis arc (where the Jedi invade and occupy Geonosis) appear much less triumphant when one considers that the Republic's occupation of the planet may very well have helped set the stage for the the Empire in regards to the enslavement [[spoiler: and later genocide]] of the Geonosian race, as depicted in ''Rebels''.[[note]] Though considering the Geonsians were Separatists, [[AssholeVictim it's probably not all bad]]. [[/note]]

* In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E1CloneCadets Clone Cadets]]", Bravo Squad's line "Time to watch the Dominoes fall" becomes this when you consider [[spoiler:the [[KillEmAll ultimate fate of Domino Squad]].]] Also in the same episode and deliberately invoked at the time of its airing, Hevy's promise to come back to 99 for his medal. Considering that the episode takes place before "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E5Rookies Rookies]]", [[spoiler:fans who have watched the episode beforehand [[DoomedByCanon know that's not going to happen]].]]

* The events of the Geonosis arc (where the Jedi invade and occupy Geonosis) appear much less triumphant when one considers that the Republic's occupation of the planet may very well have helped set the stage for the the Empire in regards to the enslavement [[spoiler: and later genocide]] of the Geonosian race, as depicted in ''Rebels''.

* The Onderon arc features a group of Rebels fighting against the Separatists that Obi-Wan has minor doubts over whether or not their actions may degenerate into [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters terrorism]]. The capital of this group's home world Onderon is named "Iziz", which is pronounced and spelled similarly to the real-world terrorist organization [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror ISIS]] that emerged in 2014 (two years after the Onderon arc first aired). It gets worse when [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels later]] [[Literature/StarWarsBloodline works]] [[Film/RogueOne reveal]] that this group, under Saw Gerrera's leadership, became one of the [[WellIntentionedExtremist more brutal]] rebel cells fighting against the Empire.

** This is doubly sad when one considers that, for all his evil, this is a man who is just as much a victim of Sidious as the clones or the Jedi, having been kidnapped from his mother and "raised" (read: abused and tortured) by the Sith from infancy. It's just heartbreaking that he never gets to see a galaxy rid of his former master, or break free from the conditioning engrained in him.

* Asoka and Anakin are relieved to learn it wasn't a Jedi who bombed the temple in the first episode of four-episode arc of the fifth season finale. Anakin comforts Ahsoka that "There will always be Jedi who disappoint us, but as long as we know there are good Jedi who fight for what's right, it makes it all worthwhile." In-universe, Anakin becoming Vader and slaughtering the Jedi alongside Palpatine.

* Both "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E5Rookies Rookies]]" and "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E2ARCTroopers ARC Troopers]]" are about Republic military operations critical to the security of Kamino. The clones view the place as the closest thing they have to a home and are [[ItsPersonal determined to defend it]]. Fives in particular is involved in both incidents and is invited to join the 501st and [[RankUp promoted to ARC Trooper]] in recognition of his heroism. [[spoiler:But his treatment by the Kaminoans in the [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsOrder66Arc "Order 66" arc]] is appalling. Fives returns home to help a friend only to find the Kaminoans subjecting him to inhumane medical treatment, endorsing euthanasia, and [[TheConspiracy participating in a conspiracy]] to [[ManchurianAgent engineer clone behaviour so they can be made to act against their will]]. Even in their government cover-up, the Kaminoan conspirators are still very open about how they view clones as [[ExpendableClone "property"]] rather than [[ClonesArePeopleToo people]]. They come into heated conflict with Fives and even coldly accuse him of causing the death of his own best friend. [[ChemicallyInducedInsanity They eventually drug Fives]], sabotaging his investigation and [[FrameUp sending him on the run]] until he is [[KilledOffForReal killed]] and [[HeKnewTooMuch silenced]], dying [[YouHaveToBelieveMe alone, desperate and afraid]], even after everything he did for Kamino. And the only person he trusts throughout all of this is a droid]].

* Asoka and Anakin are relieved to learn it wasn't a Jedi who bombed the temple in the first episode of four-episode arc of the fifth season finale. Anakin comforts Ahsoka that "There will always be Jedi who disappoint us, but as long as we know there are good Jedi who fight for what's right, it makes it all worthwhile." In-universe, Anakin becoming Vader and slaughtering the Jedi alongside Palpatine, but also compare this to the phrase "a few bad apples" in the context of Black Lives Matter.

* Ahsoka saves Tarkin in "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E20CitadelRescue Citadel Rescue]]" from being killed at the hands of a Osi Sobek. In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E20TheWrongJedi The Wrong Jedi]]", [[spoiler:he tries to have her executed for treason]].

* Ahsoka didn't know the twins existed, and even if she was told Padmé was pregnant, she probably thought they died with her.

* The Deception arc is about [[spoiler:Obi-Wan]] going undercover to uncover a Separatist plot against Chancellor Palpatine. On January 26th, 2012, the day before the second episode in the story arc premiered, Creator/IanAbercrombie (Palpatine's voice actor) [[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ian-abercrombie-elaine-s-boss-285386 died]]. Fortunately, the voicework of the series' fourth season was already done, and so Abercrombie was able to finish voiceovers before his death.

A number of characters, episodes, elements, and events in ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars The Clone Wars]]'' are inevitably going to be HarsherInHindsight in light of the events in ''[[Film/RevengeOfTheSith Revenge of the Sith]]'' and the original trilogy (along with the later episodes of the series and sometimes RealLife).
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* The friendships between the members of the Jedi Order and various clone troopers in ''The Clone Wars'' makes the execution of Order 66 in ''Revenge of the Sith'' all the more tragic.
** The friendship between Anakin Skywalker and Captain Rex, meanwhile, gets this in the ''opposite'' direction since ''Rebels'' and ''Ahsoka'' establish that Rex was one of the only clones in the galaxy who managed to avoid being forced to carry out Order 66 and later joined the Rebellion, while we all know what happened to Anakin...
* ''The Clone Wars'' presents Anakin as being more heroic, fleshed out, and personable than he is in the prequel trilogy (which is focused on how he turned to the DarkSide), which makes his friendship with Obi-Wan much more believable. However, it also only serves to increase the tragedy of said eventual turn to the Dark Side. Of particular note is the friendship displayed between Anakin and Mace Windu, since ''Revenge of the Sith'' revealed that Mace never really trusted Anakin.
* In the [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsMovie pilot movie]], Anakin and Ahsoka rescue Jabba's child, Rotta. In ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', Jabba tries to have Luke (Anakin's son) executed twice and has Leia (Anakin's daughter) chained to him [[GoGoEnslavement in practically nothing]], which ultimately backfires when she strangles him with her chains.

* In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS2E10TheDeserter The Deserter]]", Rex states that if the Republic loses the Clone Wars, then "our children and their children could be forced to live under an evil I can't well imagine". Little does Rex know that such a fate will befall the galaxy when the Republic (or, more accurately the ''[[ForegoneConclusion Empire]]'') [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith "wins" the Clone Wars]], with the galaxy falling under Palpatine's control. Not helped by the fact that both the Canon and Legends continuity would turn the later victory against the Empire into a case of HappyEndingOverride.

* In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E13Monster Monster]]", Savage Opress tells Ventress that "so long as I live, you will ''not'' harm him!", referring to his brother, Feral. Soon after, Savage was rather brutally proven right: [[ExactWords Ventress]] ''[[ExactWords didn't]]'' [[ExactWords harm Feral]]. [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Savage himself]] [[NeckSnap did]].

* "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E17GhostsOfMortis Ghosts of Mortis]]" has Obi-Wan confront a Dark Side-turned Anakin Skywalker in the Well of the Dark Side, a volcanic crater. One can only imagine the thoughts running through Obi-Wan's head the [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith next time he ends up in a similar setting with Anakin]].

** In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E20TheWrongJedi The Wrong Jedi]]", [[spoiler:Tarkin is appalled when confronted with decisive evidence Ahsoka had been framed and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone he realized he had almost had an innocent executed]]]]. Given what he's going to do to Alderaan in ''Film/ANewHope''...

* Obi-Wan defeating Darth Maul back in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' was a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome at the time. Then in ''The Clone Wars'', Maul returns and we see [[WouldHurtAChild what he]] [[RevengeByProxy is willing]] [[MoralEventHorizon to do]] for the sake of avenging that defeat, which results in the original moment becoming ''very'' bittersweet.

* [[MadScientist Dr. Nuvo Vindi's]] plot to weaponize the [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E17BlueShadowVirus Blue Shadow Virus]] against specific planets (and potentially causing a galactic pandemic) becomes even more disturbing after [[https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/federal-law-enforcement-document-reveals-white-supremacists-discussed-using-coronavirus-as-a-bioweapon/ar-BB11vT0H reports]] of white supremacists trying to weaponize [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic COVID-19]] against racial minorities in the United States.

* A real-life example: "Shattered" features a droid that Ahsoka refers to as GG (or "Gigi"). The episode itself was released on the birthday of Gianna (or Gigi) Bryant, the daughter of Kobe Bryant, both of whom had died in a helicopter crash earlier that year.

* The plot of "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E17BlueShadowVirus Blue Shadow Virus]]" and "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E18MysteryOfAThousandMoons Mystery of a Thousand Moons]]" involved a MadScientist recreating the titular and infamously deadly virus and making it even deadlier from a secret laboratory on Naboo, starting with an attempt to infect Naboo before weaponizing it on key Republic star systems, which would result in a galactic pandemic at worst. Eleven years after those episodes first aired, COVID-19 (also known as the coronavirus) — which originated in China before becoming widespread enough to be declared [[UsefulNotes/CoronavirusDisease2019Pandemic a global pandemic]] by the World Health Organization — made its way to Italy, one of the filming locations for the Naboo scenes in the Prequel Trilogy films, and it had one of the highest death tolls of all countries by the virus.
** Dr. Nuvo Vindi's plot to weaponize the Blue Shadow Virus against specific planets becomes even more disturbing after [[https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/federal-law-enforcement-document-reveals-white-supremacists-discussed-using-coronavirus-as-a-bioweapon/ar-BB11vT0H reports]] of white supremacists trying to weaponize COVID-19 against racial minorities in the United States.

* In ''[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E18TheJediWhoKnewTooMuch The Jedi Who Knew Too Much]]'', Anakin promises Ahsoka "I'd never let anyone hurt you." [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS2E20TwilightOfTheApprenticePartII The last time the two see each other alive]], Anakin, as Vader, [[RedemptionRejection rejects Ahsoka's attempts to reach him]] and decides to kill her.

* Anakin promises Ahsoka "I'd never let anyone hurt you." [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS2E20TwilightOfTheApprenticePartII The last time the two see each other alive]], Anakin, as Vader, [[RedemptionRejection rejects Ahsoka's attempts to reach him]] and decides to kill her.

* The plot of "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E17BlueShadowVirus Blue Shadow Virus]]" and "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E18MysteryOfAThousandMoons Mystery of a Thousand Moons]]" involved a MadScientist recreating the titular and infamously deadly virus and making it even deadlier from a secret laboratory on Naboo, starting with an attempt to infect Naboo before weaponizing it on key Republic star systems, which would result in a galactic pandemic at worst. Eleven years after those episodes first aired, COVID-19 (also known as the coronavirus) — which originated in China before becoming widespread enough to be declared [[UsefulNotes/CoronavirusDisease2019Pandemic a global pandemic]] by the World Health Organization — made its way to Italy, one of the filming locations for the Naboo scenes in the Prequel Trilogy films, with the death toll there over twenty-thousand.