Clone Wars in order (chronological and release date)

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is one of the best things to happen to Star Wars since George Lucas tapped Irwin Kershner to direct The Empire Strikes Back and Lawrence Kasdan to write it. Building on the success of Maestro Genndy Tartakovsky’s still visually stunning The Clone Wars Microseries, The Clone Wars took all the good ideas and concepts that Lucas introduced in the prequel trilogy– Yes, there are some great ideas here, even in attack of the clones – and gave them enough time to breathe properly and develop over time.

The result remains some of the best storytelling in all of Star Wars. It’s the show that gave us one of the best characters in Star Wars in the form of Ahsoka Tano, turned the faceless clone army into a group of dozens of meaty and complex characters, and even expanded into separatist politics and the titular conflict (in the process drawing parallels with the Iraq War, complete with an entire Mujahideen-inspired arc), all within the context of a series aimed at kids.

Many of the best Clone Wars things ever came about because Lucas, who was heavily involved in the show’s development, bounced ideas off his writers How to bring Maul back to life. In this case, the result was a fantastic character story arc that continued into Star Wars Rebels.

Another element that made The Clone Wars unique was its anthology format, which was inspired by World War II Newsreels. Episodes would jump from one corner of the Galaxy to another every week, changing the main characters and, in certain cases, even going back and forth. It can also make watching the cartoon a bit difficult due to its somewhat complex timeline. So, whether you’re looking to rewatch a famous show or you want to experience it for the first time, this is your guide to the best Clone Wars watch order.

The easiest way to watch The Clone Wars is to simply go by release order. This is how viewers first experienced the cartoon, with the story jumping around in time and space with each episode and occasionally beating the clock to expand on previous storylines. This order simply follows the release of each season, as follows:

• Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Theatrical Release) (2008)
• The Clone Season 1 (2008) (2008)
• Season 2 Season 2: Rise of the Bounty Hunters (2009)
• “Season 3: ‘Secrets Revealed’ (2010) (2010)
• “Season 4: “Battle Lines” (2011) (2011)
• 5 The Clone Season 5 (2012)
• “Season 6: The Lost Missions” (2014) (2014) (2014) (2014)
• Season 7 Season 7: The Final Season (2020)

There is a reason why the episodes seem to be in order. Originally, The Clone Wars was very much meant to be an anthology with a change in focus and protagonists every episode. However, after a while the story becomes more linear and the main focus starts to tend towards Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka as the main characters.

Watching The Clone Wars episodes in the order they were released presumably means missing out on the impact of certain story arcs, such as the fan-favorite Domino Squad. First introduced in the season 1 episode “Rookies”, their story is expanded upon by two prequel episodes in season 3 (which are themselves separated by an unrelated episode). Watching them in release order has its merits because it’s like watching reports from the front, and some stories expand as new information comes in after a while. But at the same time, it also means you end up going a long time before seeing certain characters again.

If you want to watch The Clone Wars with an emphasis on individual story arcs rather than an anthology approach, your best bet is to go the chronological route:

• Season 2, Episode 16, “The Cat and the Mouse”
• Season 1 Episode 16 “Hidden Enemy”
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Theatrical Release)
• Season 3 Episode 1 “Clone Cadets”
• Season 3 Episode 3 “Delivery Lines”
• Season 1 Episode 1 “Ambush”
• Season 1 Episode 2 “Rising the Wicked”
• Season 1 Episode 3 “Shadow of the Angry”
• Season 1 Episode 4 “Destroy the Wicked”
• Season 1 Episode 5 “Rookies”
• Season 1 Episode 6 “Fall of the Droid”
• Season 1 Episode 7 “Duel Duel”
• Season 1 Episode 8 “Bombard Thursday”
• Season 1 Episode 9 Cloak of Darkness
• Season 1 Episode 10 “Lie With Heavy”
• Season 1, Episode 11, “Doku Captured”
• Season 1 Episode 12 “General Gungan”
• Season 1 Episode 13 “Jedi Crash”
• Season 1 Episode 14 Defenders of Peace
• Season 1 Episode 15 “Breach”
• Season 1 Episode 17 “The Blue Shadow Virus”
• Season 1, Episode 18, “The Mystery of a Thousand Moons”
• Season 1 Episode 19 “The Storm Over Rylot”
• Season 1 Episode 20 The Innocents of Rylot
• Season 1 Episode 21 “Freedom on Rylot”
• Season 2, Episode 1, “Holocron Heist”
• Season 2 Episode 2 “Cargo of Doom”
• Season 2 Episode 3 “Children of the Force”
• Season 2 Episode 17 Bounty Hunters
• Season 2 Episode 18 “Zilla’s Beast”
• Season 2 Episode 19″
• Season 2, Episode 4, “The Senate Spy”
• Season 2, Episode 5, “Landing at the Point of Rain”
• Season 2 Episode 6 “Weapons Factory”
• Season 2 Episode 7 “Legacy of Terror”
• Season 2, Episode 8, “Brain Invaders”
• Season 2, Episode 9, “Tough Intrigue”
• Season 2 Episode 10 “The Deserter”
• Season 2, Episode 11, “Lightsaber Lost”
• Season 2 Episode 12 “The Mandalore Plot”
• Season 2 Episode 13 “Journey of Temptation”
• Season 2 Episode 14 “The Duchess of Mandalore”
• Season 2 Episode 20 “Death”
• Season 2 Episode 21 “R2 Come Home”
• Season 2 Episode 22 “Deadly Tracking”
• Season 3 Episode 5 “Corruption”
• Season 3 Episode 6 “The Academy”
• Season 3 Episode 7 “Assassin”
• Season 3 Episode 2 “Arc Troops”
• Season 3 Episode 4 “Sphere of Influence”
• Season 3 Episode 8 “Evil Plans”
• Season 1 Episode 22 “Hostage Crisis”
• Season 3 Episode 9 “The Hunt for Zira”
• Season 3 Episode 10 “Heroes on Both Sides”
• Season 3 Episode 11 “The Pursuit of Peace”
• Season 2 Episode 15 “Murder in the Senate”
• Season 3 Episode 12 “Night Passengers”
• Season 3 Episode 13 “Monster”
• Season 3 Episode 14 “Witches of the Mist”
• Season 3 Episode 15 “Orders”
• Season 3 Episode 16 “Altar of Mortis”
• Season 3 Episode 17 “Ghosts of Mortis”
• Season 3 Episode 18 “The Citadel”
• Season 3 Episode 19 “Counterattack”
• Season 3 Episode 20 “Citadel Rescue”
• Season 3 Episode 21 “The Padawan Loses”
• Season 3 Episode 22 “Wookiee Hunt”
• Season 4
• Season 5
• Season 6
• Season 7

So what’s the best watch order for The Clone Wars? Well, it is The look is the same as in the live action Star Wars movieswith different people arguing for a different order, all operating for different kinds of experience. However, the best way to experience Trophies’ many exciting arcs, and the development that many characters go through, is to watch the episodes in chronological order.

The reason is simple: with chronological order, you’ll be able to see storylines all at once before moving on to the next storyline, rather than seeing them spread out and interrupted by other episodes. The chronological order also gives the impression of one single, long story rather than a collection of many separate stories. Take, for example, the Domino Squad storyline, which takes place early in the series’ timeline and does wonders to turn the clone troopers into proper, complex characters.

I’m a big believer in not missing an episode of a show – and a big defender of the value of a filler episode. Still, as much as The Clone Wars has some of the best stories in all of Star Wars, Not every episode is a sure-fire winner.

Indeed, while they all have merit, there are some storylines that don’t really feel like important aspects of the franchise and don’t add much to the overall viewing experience. By far the worst storyline is Zira Khat, One Star Wars story that has aged terribly with his macabre portrayal of Uncle Truman Capote inspired by Jabba’s Campy Uncle. Its storyline is lackluster, borderline offensive, and easy to miss on Rewatch. Even worse is the story arc involving the kidnapping of Zeer Rott’s son, a poorly done and otherwise pointless arc that is hard to defend.

That being said, there is one controversial story in The Clone Wars that is also a Lucas favorite – the Droid Arc. This storyline involves R2-D2 and the D-Squad being lost in the wilderness and overcoming adversity in an attempt to be rescued. Considered boring, slow, and without much significance to the overall franchise, it’s a series of episodes that are easy to skip. Still, it makes sense that it would be Lucas’ favorite, given that they’re weird and mostly silent episodes reminiscent of “THX 1138.”