When To Watch The Clone Wars During A Star Wars Movie Marathon
The news that Star Wars characters from animated series might be heading to The Mandalorian has a lot of fans checking out shows like Rebels and Clone Wars. If you're watching for the first time, here's the best practice for adding The Clone Wars to your Star Wars marathon straight from Ashley Eckstein, who stars as the voice of Ahsoka Tano.
"When people ask me what order they should watch the films, I recommend that they watch The Clone Wars series between Episode II and III," Eckstein said during an IGN-hosted watch party celebrating the 40th anniversary of Revenge of the Sith, "because it makes Anakin's fall that much more heartbreaking." It's also chronologically where The Clone Wars falls, because after Episode III, the titular Clone Wars are over and Anakin is pretty strictly Darth Vader.
Not only does watching The Clone Wars explain General Grievous' whole deal, it also introduces Eckstein's fan favorite character, Ahsoka Tano. She's a padawan assigned to Anakin who has plenty of her own struggles with the Jedi as an organization. She has her own fully-fleshed-out story, but Eckstein is right in that Anakin's mentorship with Ahsoka adds a lot of layers to his arc that you might not get by just watching the prequel films.
Planning your marathon is easy thanks to Disney+
It would take you several days to get through all of The Clone Wars, so don't plan a Star Wars weekend around it if you're watching it between films. The series is not, however, difficult to find. All seven seasons, including the newest and final season, are available to stream on Disney+, along with the 90-minute Clone Wars film and the entire Skywalker Saga of films that includes both Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
Watching the series will also help explain why the heck Darth Maul showed up at the end of Solo after having been cut in half at the end of The Phantom Menace. Then, when you're finished with Clone Wars, there's Rebels (which takes place between Solo and Rogue One/A New Hope) and Resistance (which takes place between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, but probably a little while after The Mandalorian). So, if you're looking to really dive deep into the mythos, the good news is that a galaxy far, far away is always, always expanding.