The ending of Star Wars, where an animated show beat all the odds to become one of the most exceptional pieces of content in the world's most iconic franchise. It is a spectacular achievement that will genuinely get rewatched for years and years to come.
Through a lousy movie and seven fantastic seasons, the show is remarkable, but at points, it is less than perfect. It adds an insane amount of good to the Star Wars canon, but no matter what the show did, there are some things it could not improve, we look at both here.
Doesn't - Jar Jar Binks
Jar Jar Binks is a character who, despite his appeal to children, has never got much love from Star Wars fans.
There is no need to take a dig at performer Ahmed Best, who does a great job, but not even something as great as The Clone Wars could improve a character like Jar Jar who (unless you are twelve and under) is just not an enjoyable character.
Improves - Anakin & Pé's Romance
Anakin and Pé got a lot of stick in the prequels for lack of chemistry, abysmal dialogue, and poor performances. The Clone Wars changes all of that.
Matt Lanter and Catherine Taber deserve the highest of praise, as well as George Lucas, Dave Filoni, and the writing team for what they did with the newlyweds. Their relationship feels emotional, real, and something in which fans can get invested.
Doesn't - The Hutts
Like Jar Jar Binks, the various Hutt characters are not exactly amazing. Jabba is iconic and plays a good role in the original trilogy, but The Clone Wars does nothing to improve the Hutts.
The details of the crime world are not really explored in the series, and on top of that Ziro, the Hutt is pretty intolerable as a character, only being well done when surrounded by far greater villains like Cad Bane and Dooku.
Improves - Anakin's Fall
A lot of fans believed that there must have been more to Anakin's fall than what was presented in the prequel trilogy, and oh boy, The Clone Wars adds unbelievable meat to that bone.
Characters like Mace Windu, Chancellor Palpatine, Captain Tarkin, and others play their part in pushing Anakin to the brink of his emotions. The Jedi High Council's blaming of Ahsoka for a terrorist attack and her leaving the Order was another step in Anakin's fall, so too was the lie from Obi-Wan that he had died. There is so much content in The Clone Wars that revolves around Anakin's fall.
Doesn't - The Filler
The Clone Wars has so many beautiful, tragic, and epic arcs that add so much to the canon. But with all that greatness also comes some filler that adds absolutely nothing.
Stuff like "The Senate Murders," "Bombad Jedi," and the Droid arc - to most people, not all - are pointless and plain bad, alongside a few other arcs and episodes that add nothing to the canon.
Improves - The Clones
One thing that is never explored in the prequels is the clones. They are just clones, soldiers of the Republic, and pawns of Palpatine. The Clone Wars makes them so much more.
The clones are people; they are individuals with personalities and traits. Some of the shows best characters are clones like Rex, Cody, Fives, Echo, Heavy, 99, Jesse, and various other clones like Wolffe, Gregor, Bly, Neyo, Thire, are given stories, personalities, moments to shine, moments to matter; which they do, all of them matter.
Doesn't - Grievous' History
It is a small point to nitpick, considering how great Grievous is throughout The Clone Wars. However, we get at least some, at most, a lot of history on Maul, Asajj, and Dooku, but not really anything on Grievous.
He has a fascinating history as a Kaleesh, but while we get some idea of Grievous' role and mindset in the war, we do not dive into his history, instead of leaving that for the extended universe.
Improves - Maul & The Villains
As said, though, Grievous is great in the show. Also great is Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress, Palpatine, Savage Opress, and, of course, Maul.
Dooku is incredible throughout his time on the show, and Asajj matches up too. The standout is Maul, who adds so much to the show and the canon after his return that it is almost unfair for a character to be that good. We also get Palpatine kicking ass with lightsabers, and it is legendary, the main villains of the prequels are all improved, and then some, in The Clone Wars.
Doesn't - The General Image Of The Jedi High Council
The general image should not be confused with the quality of, as the quality of many of the Jedi Council is massively improved and adds a lot to the canon. Obi-Wan, Yoda, Mace, Plo Koon, and Kit Fisto are all phenomenal characters.
However, whether it be their ignorance towards the real people, their attachment to the Jedi Code, Mace Windu's treatment of Anakin, everyone's treatment of Ahsoka, and, again, Mace Windu's attitude, the image and likeability of the Council are not made better in the show. This is deliberate, but still, one cannot help but love most of the Jedi individually, but find them frustrating as a unit.
Improves - Ahsoka Tano & Original Characters
What makes The Clone Wars so fantastic - alongside gorgeously crafted stories, immense action, and everything else good about the show - is the characters. What the show does to add to the canon, is give it incredible, original characters.
Many clones in the 501st, Asajj Ventress (incepted in 2003 originally), Hondo Ohnaka, Savage Opress, Satine Kryze, Bo-Katan Kryze, and many others are just amazing, and characters fans want to see in many other parts of the canon. The standout two are the main characters of the show, though, Captain/Commander Rex, and Ahsoka Tano. They are an outstanding pair of characters, and their presence, growth, dynamic, and impact adds so much to the canon.
