Star Wars: The Clone Wars vs. Star Wars Rebels: The Arc Side of the Force

The Walt Disney Company not only rules the world, but also a galaxy far, far away. The company’s acquisition of Lucasfilm Ltd. in 2012 brought news of a new series of Star Wars films, which excited many fans the world over. However, this change behind the scenes also brought about the eventual cancellation of the popular animated television series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (TCW), which takes place between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, and introduced fan-favorite characters like Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker’s teenaged Jedi apprentice, and clone captain CT-7567, better known as Captain Rex.

TCW ran for five seasons on Cartoon Network, and 13 completed episodes from the planned sixth season, entitled “The Lost Missions,” were made available to stream on Netflix in March 2014. In addition, several unfinished episodes were made available on StarWars.com and unused scripts from the series have served as the basis for comic books and novels. Later that same year, in October 2014, Disney premiered a new Star Wars animated series on DisneyXD, entitled Star Wars Rebels (SWR), which begins five years before A New Hope. This new series follows the crew of the freighter ship The Ghost, which consists of Jedi-in-hiding Kanan Jarrus, pilot Hera Syndulla, warrior Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios, Mandalorian explosives expert and artist Sabine Wren, and Force-sensitive street orphan Ezra Bridger, as they work to disrupt Imperial activities in the Outer Rim Territories and later become drawn into a larger rebellion that will eventually become The Rebel Alliance seen in the original trilogy.

From the start, fans were not happy with this new series. Facebook pages like “Save The Clone Wars” started sprouting up all over the internet, and comments that simply say “Bring back The Clone Wars” will end up somewhere on any video related to SWR.

I understand where fans of TCW are coming from: while I enjoy both shows for different reasons, I do prefer TCW. SWR is not the same show; the designs are decidedly more kid friendly, there are moments that were made more with kids in mind (mainly in the first season), and while the characters may go through great changes physically or emotionally, no one in the main cast has been killed off (as of this article). No matter how much acclaim SWR receives, even with three seasons of content under their belt, there will always be someone online lying in wait to type the comment “Bring back The Clone Wars.”

I kept wondering what my biggest issue was with SWR, even though I acknowledge that it is getting much better. I could talk about the aforementioned character designs, the dialogue, or the seemingly immortal crew of The Ghost. Or maybe the fact that some of the best episodes are ones that harken back to TCW or to the original trilogy. Or maybe I could discuss how abrupt the end of TCW was, and how fans have to settle for half-finished episodes online and purchasing novels based on scripts for planned episodes of TCW to get their fill of that era in the history of Star Wars.

But that’s not what I want to talk about; I want to talk about the length of the episodes themselves. Not that the episodes are any shorter. SWR, like TCW, has episodes that fit neatly into a half-hour timeslot. The difference is the overarching story arcs for each episode. In TCW, battles and conflicts could last anywhere between two to five episodes, allowing for fully fleshed out scenarios, many great character moments, and to allow characters to stay in one place for an extended period.

In contrast, aside from season premieres and finales, SWR limits its story arcs to individual episodes, which gives the show a breakneck pace that, at times, can leave you gasping for breath. With TCW, there could be serious cliffhangers between episodes, things left unsaid or unresolved, and problems that would linger for a long time. With SWR, we don’t get that; a conflict is presented, and by the end of the episode, it’s resolved. There is still a constant threat behind the scenes each season, such as the Grand Inquisitor in Season One, Darth Vader himself in Season Two, and fan favorite Grand Admiral Thrawn in the current season, but the majority of that payoff comes at the very end of the season, and that can be a bit frustrating.

So, while I continue to acknowledge that Star Wars Rebels is good and is getting better with each season, it really has, in my opinion (and the opinions of others), not quite lived up to the legacy of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, mostly due to the lack of longer story arcs between episodes. It certainly has the potential to become just as acclaimed as The Clone Wars, that much is abundantly clear; but the show really needs to step up its game if fans of SWR ever want to see the end of comments like “Bring back The Clone Wars.”