The Forgotten Clone Wars

Growing up with the prequels and a fascination with Star Wars, the Clone Wars was always something I wish we had more of. I didn’t have the luxury of having the 3-D 2008 Clone Wars series. No, instead I had the 2003 micro series the Clone Wars. Now you may be asking yourself what’s that series, or that’s not cannon so it technically doesn’t exist. The story and the general vibe of the series is what it should be remembered for.

The Story

This series has a significantly simpler plot. The main story of the series is Obi-Wan assaulting the CIS planet of Muunilinst. While he is fighting down on the planet. Anakin is placed in control of the space battle above the planet. While the battle is raging, Count Dooku trains Asajj Ventress, and sends her to assassinate Anakin. Sprinkled in between is various battle showcasing Mace Windu, Yoda, Kit Fisto, and a handful of Jedi. Towards the end of Volume One, Ki-Adi-Mundi and a group of Jedi and padawans track General Grievous to Hypori. This is a real memorable part of this series, and I’ll dive into that later.

Volume two picks up right at the end of the battle of Hypori. Obi-Wan sends his ARC troopers to save Ki-Adi-Mundi. On the fallout of the battle, the Council decides to knight Anakin. The series then jumps towards the end of the war. It picks up with Anakin and Obi-Wan tracking Grievous on the planet of Nelvaan. They end up liberating the the planet, while General Grievous assaults Corusant and kidnaps the Chancellor leading into the events of Episode 3.

The Animation/Art Style

For its time the series had a animation style that always interested me. Now don’t get me wrong I very much enjoy the 3-D animation that we have today, but we didn’t have that in 2003. Instead we were presented with a colorful art style. The series was easy to watch, even without the crisp animation.

The characters also had interesting designs. More Jedi, lightsaber variants, and alien species were also added to the series. The show introduced me to many characters that I didnt know existed, and gave me a different look on ones that I already knew. One of my favorite things introduced was Kit Fisto’s special lightsaber, that worked while completely submerged.

Character Development

The love I have for General Grievous started here. He was a force on the battlefield. Taking on squadrons of ARC Troopers, LAATs, and Jedi in waves, nothing stood in his path. Grievous wasn’t the only character to get love in the series either. Anakin essentially grew up during the series. We watch him go from a padawan to a Jedi Knight. We also see the bond between Anakin and Obi-Wan grow as the series continues.

Let us know which Clone Wars series you preferred in the comments below!