If you’re like me, you’ve been pretty hyped for the return of Star Wars: Clone Wars on Disney+ for a few months now. And also if you’re like me, you were massively disappointed to see that they only posted one episode at a time and had to cancel your binge-watching plans (now what am I gonna do with all this beer, pizza-flavored combos, and Ahsoka/Jar-Jar fanfiction?!). But in all honesty, even though we’re only getting one episode this week, it was a pretty great one to help reimmerse ourselves in the Clone Wars world and prepare for what is sure to be an action-packed yet emotional final season.
After season six took us through some more cerebral Force-centric stuff about 6 years ago, it felt good to jump back into what really differentiates Clone Wars from the rest of the Star Wars universe: the clones. This episode, we follow Captain Rex and Commander Cody as they launch a desperate op (is there any other kind of op for the clones in this show?) to win back the planet Anaxes towards the end of the Clone War. When the droid army begins winning the battles consistently, Rex is convinced that their battlefield analysis algorithm has changed and is actively working against his strategies. Rex believes this is because the Separatists are somehow using his old trooper friend Echo to strategize, who when we last saw him had presumably fallen when the Clone attacked the Citadel before the show’s six-year hiatus. To pull off their mission, Rex, Cody, and the rest of their team join forces with Clone Force 99, AKA The Bad Batch.
The Bad Batch consists of four clone troopers whose genetic engineering underwent some unforeseen yet favorable mutations: in addition to acting and looking differently from other clones, these troopers have such powers as super strength, extreme intelligence, Hawkeye-like accuracy, and highly-tuned senses for hunting down objectives. Basically, CF99 is the Suicide Squad of the Clone Army, and their reckless, unorthodox battle tactics give the team a clear advantage over the droid army. While the characters themselves feel a bit cliche, it’s honestly a blast watching the clones work, and the episode is full of action sequences to keep us all engaged. By the end of the episode, it’s clear that there may just be more to Rex’s theory than what Cody initially thought.
Clone Wars still feels good. The characters are easy to get reacquainted with, and the show offers fluidity that looks about as good as 3D animation has to offer. It’s always nice to see these side quests and black ops happen in the context of the greater Clone War, and for the crowd like me who grew up on the prequels, it’s always fun to see some battle droids get manhandled. While this was only a morsel of the final season and felt a bit removed from what many of us assumed would be the Revenge of the Sith-centric storyline, it promises to bring further adventures with our old friends and plenty of droid-stomping action. I guess my beer and fanfiction will have to be stretched a bit if we’re only getting one episode a week, though.
