Board 8 > I am almost done with Season 5 of Clone Wars (spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Season 1 was whatever, but had a number of strong episodes in it. Ahsoka was kind of annoying, being the 'I ignore my masters because I'm always right' character. Use of other Jedi was cool, particularly my boy Plo. Hondo was a cool character who has always been great. Grievous is a jobber, and Dooku is only slightly better. Padme kinda sucked, and Jar Jar really sucked. However, once the season hit the Ryloth arc, it got GOOD, and I was convinced the series would be worth watching. Then it ended the season by introducing Cad Bane in the best way and I was hooked.

Season 2 continued to have good Cad Bane content, but also really terrible Padme/Anakin content. In this season, Anakin was maybe the most unlikable character, except for Jar Jar who maybe didn't even do much in this season. The Geonosis zombie arc was okay... the first episodes that were just straight-up war films were really good, and I liked the whole Ahsoka/Bariss dynamic, but the rest was shrug. Other one-off episodes were okay, but I enjoyed the introduction of Satine and her arc, particularly in the way it gave depth to Obi-Wan. If there's one thing we learned from Clone Wars, it's that Obi-Wan fucks. Zillo Beast was fucking dumb. Boba Fett coming back was one part hype and 3 parts 'oh he's just a jobber', and other characters, primarily Bossk, began a trend of always showing him up.

Season 3 I remember felt like they took the most popular episodes of past seasons and extrapolated on them. Which meant more highlights of the guys from Rookies, more killing them off, more Ryloth, more Cad Bane and Aurra Sing. Ahsoka at this point is BETTER, having actually developed into a real character with actual arcs, development. Interestingly, she still has better romantic chemistry with Padme than Anakin does (probably because Padme likes em young). There's way too much Padme in this season, though. Season 3 also introduced Savage who... I don't know. He's alright. He fills his role well, but his character really isn't anything BEYOND what you can determine from his name. More important is Ventress being put into a sympathetic position, which is GREAT, because we don't need another loser Sith. We already have plenty of those. I wasn't a huge plan of the whole Father, Son, and Daughter arc of this season either. That was a slog. The Citadel arc with fucking Tarkin was fun, and really well done. And the whole capture of Ahsoka done at the end of the season was a good story taking Ahsoka out of the war and putting her in her own little tale. "Don't overestimate yourself." "I'm not." First of super badass Ahsoka moments.

Season 4 was really weird. The Mon Calamari war was dumb. Just not good. Then we got two terrible droid episodes. Then this whole Umbara arc which was actually great! Krell was kinda just douchey but it's good to have an arc that focuses on Captain Rex (and Fives, I guess), since Rex is an amazing character. Then a slaver arc that was... eh? Nothing special. Weird that Anakin has better chemistry with sexy bat chick than his wife, but oh well. Ahsoka got another solo adventure, and while her thing with Lux is kinda eh, it's good to have a young Jedi dealing with love issues, since there's implications that most of them do at some point. Also, we got the single best scene in the whole show in that episode:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGAdYbMthG4

Fuck yeah. Then the prison break arc was solid, but the real highlight was Cad Bane. Nothing beats the scene at the end of The Box where Cad Bane gets appointed the leader. Such a badass. I didn't much care for the Nightsisters, so I didn't care for them all dying, but I really liked Ventress moving on to the bounty work after. And her fling with pink bounty hunter chick. Then the expected Maul resurrection, which... once again, Savage is fine for what he is, but you know his entire character based on his name. And Maul is weird at first, because he's crazy, then he's just... angry. Which is about as much characterization as he had in episode 1.

I haven't finished season 5 yet, but... the Onderon arc was great. More development for Ahsoka, and unlike the Mon Calamari war, it was a story worth making. With a nice emotional end. Then a less good arc with the whole younglings... again, Ahsoka by herself, but the kids were eh. Cute at times, but this one went on too long. Was really better for having more Hondo. Then the droid arc. I feel okay forgetting it existed.

And then this fucking Mandalore/Maul arc that I just finished and MAN was that good. Maybe the best single run of the show to this point. Maul FINALLY felt like he developed into a character, and even though Savage was just an accessory to his, it was better than what he has been. Bringing the Deathwatch story to an end, Bo-Katan getting introduced who is a total badass, a fucking tug of the heartstrings when Obi-Wan's fuckbuddy gets killed... so much good stuff happening here. And then it gets TOPPED OFF by Sidious just deciding to fucking end it all. His fight with Maul and Savage was splendid. One of the better battles of the show. Sidious's fighting style was unique and really glorious to watch.

One more arc of season 5 to watch (don't spoil it for me!) but I don't know if I'll get to it today or stew on it.

I would rank the seasons but it's hard to given the high variance between quality. Might be easier to rank the writers.

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bump for star wars

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bump for han enjoying star wars content in all forms of media

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Most of your observations about the series match my own -

- Ahsoka started out as a completely worthless character but improved as the series went on until she finally became a great character by the end.

- Cad Bane is an amazing villain and kept me from giving up on watching the show.

- Padme and Anakin still managed to have very little chemistry as animated characters.

- Ventress was pretty cool.

- Hondo was funnier than he had any right to be.

- The story arcs about Mandalore were all worth watching.

- The droid episodes were weak, but I did enjoy the scene where R2D2 and C3P0 were forced to fight other robots. C3P0 ran away like a whiny kid, but R2 busted out all of his weapons and basically said, "Bring It, *****..." That was great.

- Maul and Savage were kind of stupid, but whatever.

- the scene where Sidious fights Maul and Savage is outstanding.

- Season 6 isn't bad, but nowhere near as great as Season 5.

- The final arc of Season 5 was one of the best in the series. It was impactful, we'll written and added quite a bit to the Star Wars universe overall. I haven't seen season 7 yet, but I have no idea how they can top the ending to Season 5.

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I am now done with Season 5.

That hit hard.

I got teary at the end.

I was excited to see Bariss again but then everything that happened with them... big sad. GREAT line delivery though. "I think they suit me". That's a top tier moment of the series.

If Season 5 didn't have that stupid Droid arc, then it'd be undeniably one of the better seasons of a show ever. But jeez that brought things down a lot.

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