The Top 10 Clone Wars Stories

My own personal list of the top ten story arcs from our beloved The Clone Wars, in my opinion one of the best and deepest pieces of television ever produced.
If you personally disagree with my rankings, please feel free to post your own in the comments, and if you have not yet been able to watch the show, I wholeheartedly recommend it to you, it adds so much to the overall Star Wars mythology and radically changes how one views the films.

#10- The Order 66 Arc -Season 6 (The Unknown/The Conspiracy/Fugitive/Orders)

To sum up this story, what happens when the grand plan goes wrong and someone discovers Order 66?
Starting off the show's final season, this four episode arc is possibly one of the most heartbreaking as it fully shows the true evil of Sidious, the unbearable blindness of the Jedi Order, and the rotting corruption within the hearts of those we thought we could trust.
The arc sees commentary on the nature of identity and what it means to be Human as we follow the much loved ARC Trooper Fives and his droid companion AZ-3 as they attempt to discover the truth behind the conspiracy on Kamino, and features quite possibly one of the hardest to watch endings within the show.




#9- The Ryloth Arc -Season 1 (Storm over Ryloth/Innocents of Ryloth/Liberty on Ryloth)

Easily the best of the show's fun but superfluous first season, this arc is the first that properly feels like galactic warfare with billions of lives and freedom on the line. With a first episode that further expands Ahsoka's character as a leader in training, a second episode that explores the collateral damage of war, and the conclusion being an ideological debate about a "freedom fighter" and a "terrorist".
The story introduces the character of Cham Syndulla, an important figure in the future Rebellion whose legacy is continually detailed in Lords of the Sith and Rebels.




#8- The Nighsister Arc -Season 3 (Nightsister/Monster/Witches of the Mist)

What happens when a secondary supporting villain from a non-canon cartoon suddenly doesn't fit into the established Sith Rule of Two? You suddenly get an extremely complex and well developed character.
Such is what happens with Asajj Ventress, beginning here. Outcast from being a wannabe apprentice to Count Dooku, we get glimpses of her childhood, her history as a Jedi, and her homeworld of Dathomir, in which we are introduced to her people and a whole new concept of Force usage in the Nightsisters.
The arc also sees the introduction of Savage Oppress and Mother Talzin, characters who allow for incredible plot developments down the road and motives of their own.




#7- The Onderon Arc -Season 5 (A War on Two Fronts/Front Runners/The Soft War/Tipping Points)

Long before he was a mad extremist fighting for the Rebel Alliance and hunting the Death Star, Saw Gerrera was a freedom fighter on his homeworld of Onderon, alongside his sister Steela, attempting to rid their planet of the Separatist overlords that had overtaken it.
This arc truly feels like set-up for the future Rebellion and what it means to risk your life in pursuit for moral justice, virtue and principle, and the sacrifices that are asked for them.
Featuring Ahsoka training these insurgents for full scale warfare, and her complicated relationship with former Separatist Lux Bonteri, this arc deals with some weighty subjects in regards to love, politics, terrorism and patriotism.




#6- The Youngling Arc -Season 5 (The Gathering/A Test of Strength/Bound for Rescue/A Necessary Bond)

A beautiful four part story that explores the path a young Jedi must take to become an apprentice and find their own way within the Force, it takes us to the kyber caves of Ilum and beyond as we are introduced to a group of younglings, all likable in their own ways. We also meet a droid (voiced by the lovely David Tennant) who is thousands of years old from a more ancient era of the Old Republic and the Jedi.
The arc also offers a softer side to everyone's favourite space pirate, Hondo Ohnaka, and ties up a loose end from a Season 1 arc.
The episodes also leave a bittersweet feeling as we ultimately know the tragic fate these young heroes will face.




#5- The Umbara Arc -Season 4 (Darkness on Umbara/The General/Plan of Dissent/Carnage of Krell)

Easily one of the darkest arcs in the show, these four episodes perfectly capture the horrors of war, more so than any other story within The Clone Wars, as Captain Rex must ultimately choose between loyalty to a flawed cause and his honour, or loyalty to his brothers and his own conscience.
Featuring the planet of Umbara, a bizarre and terrifyingly alien and different kind of world, we feel the tense atmosphere that the Clone soldiers feel as they wade through it, we feel their fear as chaos wages all around them in some of the most intense action scenes produced, and we feel their sorrow as they endure immeasurable loss.




#4- The Mortis Arc -Season 3 (Overlords/Altar of Mortis/Ghosts of Mortis)

One of the most mythologically and philosophically charged stories made within the six seasons, this trilogy of episodes was the arc that defined The Clone Wars in the early days and showed the levels it was capable of reaching and the places it was willing to go to.
To this day, years later, people are still debating what exactly Mortis actually means and represents.
Featuring our main three heroes of Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka being trapped within a place called Mortis, home to three beings within the Force known as the Father, the Daughter and the Son, they encounter trials, truth, ghosts of the past and horrifying visions of the future, all in an effort to find out one thing- what is the meaning of the Chosen One?




#3- The Maul and Mandalore Arc -Season 5 (Revival/Eminence/Shades of Reason/The Laweless)

Returning from presumed death at the end of season 4, many fans were eager to see what Maul would do within the show, and this is the arc that showed us and did not disappoint. Bringing together several plotlines and characters that had been ongoing since the early seasons, we see the great villain we knew Maul could be but never got the chance to see in The Phantom Menace as he builds alliances and makes his presence felt throughout the galaxy as he causes death, chaos, political uprising and breakdown, gaining a vast position of power and achieving his ultimate revenge on Obi-Wan Kenobi in a scene that makes Kenobi's constant sacrifices for the Jedi Order all the more compelling.
The arc also culminates in one of the best lightsaber fights in the entirety of the show.




#2- The Yoda Arc -Season 6 (Voices/Destiny/Sacrifice)

The final officially produced arc of the show, and what a fitting one it is.
In this last trilogy of episodes, we follow Yoda as he hears a familiar voice within his mind, causing questions that he must seek answers to. Going on a quest that takes him to Dagobah, to the Sith homeworld of Moraband, and to the deepest depths of the Force itself.
This arc, much like Mortis, explores very mythological and philosophical notions and handles them brilliantly, introducing us to new elements with the canon and lore, letting us finally see beings we've heard about since George Lucas's original draft of The Adventure of Luke Starkiller, As Told in the Journal of the Whills.
It is an emotional ending to the series that forever changes how you view the whole saga.




#1- The Ahsoka Arc -Season 5 (Sabotage/The Jedi Who Knew Too Much/To Catch A Jedi/The Wrong Jedi)

I must admit, it was a tough choice between this and the Yoda arc, but ultimately I had to give it to these four episodes.
Ahsoka began as a character that irritated many with her attitude and seemingly forced entry into canon, but over time we saw her develop into one of the most mature and wonderful characters that has become beloved and idolized by many, cementing her place within the saga.
This arc sees her undergo immense trials as she is framed for murder and conspiracy against the Jedi and Republic, and must go on the run to clear her name.
Clearly evoking Hitchcockian themes, through these four episodes we see just how far the Republic has fallen, and realise that by this time Palpatine has already won, the damage he's done is beyond reversal, the imperialistic qualities of the Republic have already taken root, and can only be seen when one of our heroes is on the other side of it. Encountering allies-turned-enemies and enemies-turned-allies, Ahsoka and we as viewers see how corrupt and wrong the Jedi have truly become, leading to the most emotional scene in the show, not only for the characters, but for viewers.

 

It's absolutely splendid and gets followed up in the comic book Star Wars: Darth Maul- Son of Dathomir, in which some big revelations about Maul come out.

After The Lawless, you have some truly great episodes coming up to look forward to.

 

Geonosis and Kadavo were very close to making it on my list, with the Kadavo arc probably placing number 11. I love the inspection of Anakin's character in those episodes.