Star Wars Current Canon: The Clone Wars

BY CHRISTINA RIVERO

Throughout the years Star Wars has made a huge impact in the pop culture industry. With the announcement of the sequels, a few alterations were made to the universe. Well, maybe more than a few, but these changes called for more than just a (much needed) clean up of the storyline. The reboot of the series brought in some fresh ideas and plots that had never been imagined by Lucasfilm until around 2008. This was the year Star Wars: The Clone Wars was aired and was able to bring about another wave of Star Wars fans young and old.

The possible question looming in your mind is: “Why are you even bringing this up? Isn’t this a kids show?” Of course you may think that this show holds no substance, but that is your mistake. Over winter break I had the pleasure of viewing the latest Star Wars film, The Force Awakens. This film sent me into a frenzy of needing more from this galaxy than what I was given.

The show holds onto the old tradition of starting us off with an “Episode” (film) rather than jumping into the seasons. Without the film you miss a lot of information that helps you catch up on what has happened since we last saw Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi in Episode II: Attack of The Clones as well as introducing Anakin’s new padawan, Ahsoka Tano. After the movie, the show continues on like any other by giving you the typical 20 minute episodes in multiple season. The CGI-animated cartoon takes you on the journeys of Skywalker, Kenobi, Tano, and many other characters that received mere seconds of airtime in the actual films and how they face the occurring war with the Separatists. But why is this show still considered to be a part of the current storyline when it first aired so long ago?

In order to clean up the universe for the new films, Disney had to make some changes. Since the macrocosm had been being built upon since the release of A New Hope there was an enormous amount of stories written that either overlapped or contradicted each other. With the new film, Disney designated a cut off date for anything belonging to the current universe: April 25, 2014. Everything written or produced before the date was taken out of context or put into a separate section, known as Legends, allowing some of their content to be considered legitimate with some of it not due to a film stating otherwise. In short, whatever the films say goes, regardless if a book or comic has information saying differently. There was an exception to this date, however, and that was with the Clone Wars show along with a few other things.

Even though the Disney states that this show is what actually happened, people are still reluctant to watch. This is mostly due to the fact that this was first presented as a program for children. I have to disagree with this. While watching the show it advanced many characters and plots beyond anyone’s expectations. There were even some scenes and ideas presented that made me question the show’s rating. Missing out on this show simply because you do not deem animation in any form “worth your time” is absurd. You are not only insulting a show that has received more than enough recognition, but have insulted yourself considering animation is honored everywhere including the Academy Awards.

The show reaches beyond any animated show and is held in very high respects by everyone in the Star Wars community along with many others. Any true fan of this universe would not be able to continue on properly without obtaining the information this show has to offer for children and adults alike.