Page 74 - Star Wars Insider #182

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS

“The Clone Wars weighed
in on quite a few serious
subjects without pulling
any punches.”

(Anakin), Catherine Taber (Padmé), surrounding that already iconic
and many more. moment by making many of the
clones—from Captain Rex to
Watching the Wars Echo, Waxer, Hardcase, and 99, all
First broadcast on Cartoon voiced by Dee Bradley Baker—into
director Dave Filoni used The Network in the United States, The sympathetic, highly watchable,
Clone Wars to delve more deeply Clone Wars started off by telling and fully rounded characters.
into the underlying mythos of Star discrete stories, either as single At the same time, the show
Wars—exploring the very nature installments or as multi-episode also set up its own mysteries and
of the Force and Jedi prophecy, arcs. These stories were set during questions, such as what would
what it means to live as a highly the war between the Separatists happen to Ahsoka Tano—a major
conditioned clone, and the realities and the Republic, with little to link character who had left the stage by
of life in a galaxy at war. them in a wider, developing saga. Revenge of the Sith. Even during
At first, viewers tuned in for the But by the end of the third season, the development of the show, Dave

adventures of familiar characters the show had progressed toward a Filoni admitted that the young
such as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padmé more serialized style that drove the Padawan’s fate hadn’t been set in
Amidala, Yoda, and Chancellor larger story toward the inevitable stone, and that he’d gone back and
Palpatine, but soon they fell in outcome of Revenge of the Sith. forth as to what would happen to

love with characters developed Along the way it filled in gaps her. Indeed, for a television show
especially for the show, from and provided answers to questions in a 30-minute kids’ slot, The
Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex to raised by the prequel fi lms (the Clone Wars weighed in on quite
the likes of Hondo Ohnaka, Cad third and final of which had been a few serious subjects without

Bane, Fives, and Satine Kryze. released in 2005), with perhaps the pulling any punches. While many
Serious fans also came to know most important being: How could
and love the voice-over artists the loyal soldiers seen in Attack of
behind these new favorites: James the Clones turn into the executors
Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan), Ashley of Order 66 just a few years later?
Eckstein (Ahsoka), Matt Lanter The show ratcheted up the drama

“Rather than making the show
wholly about the vicarious
thrill of war, the writers found
ways to combine exciting
space battles and lightsaber
duels with tales about its
consequences—the lives lost and
those irrevocably damaged.”

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