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00:00 Star Wars The Clone Wars began with a 2008 feature film and subsequently spawned a show
00:05 that ran for seven fantastic seasons ending in 2020.
00:09 The series gave us the chance to finally understand what happened between Attack of the Clones
00:13 and Revenge of the Sith, but there is much more to this show than what lies on the surface.
00:18 The series was a maze of planning, well-placed easter eggs, and cathartic resolutions to
00:23 many a character's journeys.
00:25 So hold tight, because I'm Gareth from WhatCulture Star Wars and here are 10 mind-blowing facts
00:29 you didn't know about Star Wars The Clone Wars.
00:32 10.
00:33 The Name Game
00:34 Ahsoka Tano is arguably the breakout star of The Clone Wars.
00:38 First appearing in the feature film and being expertly fleshed out over the seven-season
00:42 show, Ahsoka joined canon as Anakin Skywalker's new and unwanted padawan.
00:47 Ahsoka was created by George Lucas as a way of adding a new layer to Anakin's story.
00:52 She represents the true good of the galaxy and is a great character to juxtapose her
00:56 master's darkening personality.
00:58 Originally, however, Lucas wanted to call her Ashlar, which he says means "light side".
01:03 Also, it's been revealed that Ashlar is actually a canon character - a Jedi youngling
01:08 who briefly appears in Attack of the Clones.
01:10 However, Lucas changed his mind about Ahsoka's name in the end.
01:14 9.
01:15 Crossing Paths
01:16 You might remember in Revenge of the Sith when Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi come face-to-face
01:20 with General Grievous as they attempt to save Chancellor Palpatine from the evil Separatists.
01:26 Grievous famously calls Anakin out and says "I thought you'd be taller".
01:29 It's a throwaway line in a long and epic film, but one that proved to be quite the
01:33 hurdle for showrunner Dave Filoni when he came to make The Clone Wars.
01:38 On the show, Anakin is the primary protagonist and Grievous is a major antagonist.
01:42 But because it would ruin the continuity of the films if the two were to meet on the show,
01:46 Filoni had to execute a series of narrative backflips to keep the two apart.
01:51 Every time there's a chance the two will see each other, something steps in to push
01:54 him away.
01:55 It's a shame in many respects that the two never cross paths and get a chance to fight
01:59 on the show, but it's of course necessary for the continuity.
02:02 Plus, in its place we get Grievous and Obi-Wan's rivalry, which is one of the best in the entire
02:07 canon.
02:08 8.
02:09 Cast Connections
02:10 Anyone worth their kyber crystals knows who Mark Hamill is.
02:14 But did you know that he was also in The Clone Wars, playing someone radically different
02:17 to Ultimate Good Guy Luke Skywalker?
02:20 Hamill has a voiceover cameo in Season 6, Episode 13, "Sacrifice", where he voices
02:25 ancient Sith Darth Bane, who appears as a ghostly vision to Yoda as he visits the Sith
02:30 planet of Morriband.
02:31 Any trace of Luke's voice is lost in Bane, and it gives Hamill the chance to play someone
02:36 who diverges from his more popular role.
02:38 Hamill is not the only one who revisits the canon in The Clone Wars, however, as in the
02:42 2008 film Samuel L. Jackson got the chance to reprise his role as Mace Windu.
02:47 He's replaced for the majority of the show by Terrence Carson, who captures Jackson's
02:51 voice beautifully, it must be said.
02:53 But he also makes an appearance in Season 7 thanks to archive footage from Revenge of
02:57 the Sith.
02:58 Liam Neeson, meanwhile, gets to reprise his role as Qui-Gon Jinn for several episodes
03:02 of The Clone Wars, where he appears as a Force ghost.
03:05 His role is much more significant than both Jackson's and Hamill's, but equally as
03:09 rewarding for longtime fans.
03:12 7.
03:13 Animating Dueling
03:14 Up until Season 7, The Clone Wars was completely animated, even the lightsaber duels.
03:20 This isn't a bad thing by a long shot, as many of the fights in the series rival and
03:24 even surpass those in the films.
03:26 I know, blasphemy.
03:27 That being said, the best duel the show has to offer comes in Season 7, Episode 10, between
03:32 Ahsoka Tano and a revitalised Darth Maul.
03:35 But did you know that this fight was created mostly through the use of motion capture technology?
03:40 From watching it back, you realise just how seamless and complex the characters' movements
03:44 actually are.
03:45 In the scene, professional stunt artist Lauren Mary Kim and Ray Park, who played Maul in
03:49 both The Phantom Menace and Solo A Star Wars Story, provide motion capture performances
03:54 for Ahsoka and Darth Maul, respectively.
03:56 Add their talents to the vocal chops of Ashley Eckstein and Sam Witwer, as well as the stylish
04:01 animation the series is now known for, and what you're left with is one of the most
04:05 visually stunning and satisfying moments of the entire series.
04:09 6.
04:10 The 501st Legion In 1997, in South Carolina, Albin Johnson
04:15 and Tom Cruise founded the 501st Legion, a charitable organisation that makes realistic
04:21 costumes from the original trilogy.
04:23 Johnson and Cruise started by making Stormtrooper costumes, and styled themselves the 501st
04:28 Legion, or Vader's Fist.
04:30 The name was coined to honour both the films and the real-life heroes of World War II.
04:34 Their popularity grew at such a rate that even George Lucas joined them at a charity
04:38 event at one point.
04:39 Eventually, they became canon in Timothy Zahn's novel Survivor's Quest, and the
04:43 clone unit subsequently appeared in Revenge of the Sith with Darth Vader as he sacked
04:47 the Jedi Temple.
04:49 Although not named in the film itself, the battalion of clones was revealed to be the
04:52 501st thanks to Lucasfilm's merchandising.
04:55 Of course, all this eventually led to the 501st Legion becoming a part of the Clone
04:59 Wars later down the line, serving under Anakin and his padawan Ahsoka.
05:03 All of this makes for a very sweet and respectable way of honouring the many fans of Star Wars.
05:08 But perhaps the best thing about the 501st is that it gave us its superior Captain Rex,
05:13 who remains one of the show's most popular figures.
05:15 5.
05:16 Humanising the Clones
05:17 Since we're on the subject of Captain Rex and the clones who give the series its name,
05:22 let's take a look here at the veteran clone's conception and the work that goes into personalising
05:26 the men who all sound and look the same.
05:29 Rex was originally going to be called Alpha, after a clone called Alpha-17 who appeared
05:33 in the comics Star Wars Republic.
05:35 But the name was scrapped because Lucas felt the main cast featured too much alliteration
05:39 already.
05:40 Lucas then decided to call him Rex instead, and gave him the job of being the central
05:43 clone character of the show.
05:45 Enter Dee Bradley Baker, who had the job of voicing the clones.
05:49 Despite all the troopers effectively being the same person, Baker knew as well as Lucas
05:53 and showrunner Dave Filoni that the essence of the show was to humanise the clones.
05:57 Baker thus went to great lengths to differentiate the troopers, recording all their lines separately
06:02 and adding inflections on key adjectives for each one.
06:06 Rex was given the most thought due to his large role on the show, and Baker and Filoni
06:09 even made a clone triangle to help rank the troopers by the importance of their role on
06:14 the show, which Rex obviously topped.
06:17 Lost Episodes and Arcs
06:19 Despite its popularity on Cartoon Network, The Clone Wars was cancelled midway through
06:23 season six after being purchased by Disney.
06:26 Although Disney brought the show back for a seventh and final season on its new streaming
06:30 service, the season was shortened and many key arcs and storylines were left unresolved.
06:34 The two key arcs have been made into successful and well-reviewed novels and comics, but would
06:39 likely have been better suited to the show, it must be said.
06:41 For example, the comics Son of Dathomir detailed a four-episode arc which would have seen Darth
06:46 Maul kidnapped and tortured by Darth Sidious following the death of Savage Opress.
06:51 The whole story would have been epic, pitting Maul against both Dooku and Grievous.
06:55 That's not the arc we longed for the most, however, as on the show Asajj Ventress is
06:59 robbed of the chance to have her story end on a satisfactory high.
07:03 In an epic eight-episode arc, the former assassin would have sought forgiveness from the Jedi
07:07 Council, and joined forces with eccentric Jedi Quinlan Vos in a bid to kill Count Dooku.
07:13 These stories would have been an excellent addition to the series, and would have added
07:16 further gravitas to characters we had grown to root for already.
07:21 Radically Different Pitch
07:22 There was actually once a time when Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi were set to be
07:26 side characters on the show.
07:28 I know, imagine that.
07:29 Instead, Dave Filoni wanted the series to revolve around the crew of a ship reminiscent
07:33 to the iconic Millennium Falcon.
07:35 On the ship, audiences would have met a smuggler, his girlfriend, a Gungan called Lunker, a
07:40 Jedi Padawan called Ashla who would go on to become Ahsoka Tano, and her master.
07:44 A lot of this went on to become the basis of Star Wars Rebels.
07:47 Filoni's vision was put in place to steer clear of the continuity of the films, as he
07:52 didn't want to interfere with what had already been put into canon.
07:54 However, George Lucas eventually joined the project and decided the series would be better
07:58 if it focused on the characters audiences already knew.
08:01 On top of that, Filoni later wanted Ahsoka to be Obi-Wan's Padawan.
08:05 But once more, Lucas saved the day and steered him in a more compelling Skywalker direction.
08:11 Honouring the Past
08:12 In the early development of The Clone Wars, Lucas said he didn't want certain characters
08:16 appearing in the film or the series.
08:18 These primarily included Chewbacca, Jabba the Hutt, Boba Fett, and Han Solo.
08:23 Although the former three were all eventually added to the show, everyone's favourite
08:26 rebel smuggler never made an appearance.
08:28 However, that doesn't mean his legacy strayed too far.
08:31 Captain Rex, for example, bears a small scar on his chin as reference to a similar cut
08:36 on Solo actor Harrison Ford.
08:38 Also in a less direct reference to the famed pilot, a Season 3 arc sees some of our favourites
08:43 freezing themselves in carbonite.
08:45 The fact that the carbonite freezing was a success during this dangerous mission gives
08:49 us insight into how Darth Vader knew it would work on Solo years later.
08:53 Whether this was direct foreshadowing or not, it nonetheless remains a nice little nod to
08:58 one of the original trilogy's most iconic moments.
09:02 Familiar Soundtracks
09:03 Music has always been a unique selling point of the Star Wars films and The Clone Wars.
09:07 John Williams' masterful and suspenseful score is a pop culture touchstone, and The
09:12 Clone Wars does well by honouring the maestro's tones.
09:15 Although Williams himself has not written any music specifically for the show, his most
09:19 famous numbers still make it into the series.
09:21 The most prominent examples can be found in Season 7, as the threat of Order 66 begins
09:26 to loom over the galaxy and the fate of our heroes.
09:29 For example, as the Siege of Mandalore unfolds, we get the chance to hear the same music used
09:34 in the opening of Revenge of the Sith, when Anakin and Obi-Wan are seen racing to save
09:37 the Chancellor, showing that they are taking place at the same time.
09:41 But the most compelling use of Williams' work comes when Captain Rex gets the famous
09:45 Order from Darth Sidious.
09:46 It's a heartbreaking and unfortunately inevitable moment, as Rex turns on his friend
09:51 and joins his brothers in trying to kill Ahsoka.
09:54 As Ahsoka holds them off, you can hear Williams' "Anakin's Dark Deeds" play, the same
09:58 song used in Revenge when Darth Vader eliminates the Separatist Council.
10:02 It's a sneaky Easter egg, and easy to miss given the tension of the events unfolding.
10:06 But once you notice it, it's the kind of thing that makes you both smile and feel a
10:10 sudden pang of nostalgia.
10:11 And that's our list, know of any other mind-blowing facts fans didn't know about Star Wars
10:16 or Clone Wars?
10:17 Let me know all about them in the comments section right down below and do not forget
10:20 to like, share and click on that subscribe button while you're at it.
10:23 Also make sure to head on over to WhatCulture.com and find some more incredible articles just
10:27 like the one this video you're watching right now is based on.
10:29 I've been Gareth from WhatCulture Star Wars, thank you very much for watching this video
10:33 today, may the Force be with you and I will see you very, very soon.