I don’t exactly remember how I started my journey through The Clone Wars. Though I can’t believe that would change my feelings towards it. Specifically, its characters… specifically, the clones.
The Prequels were my childhood. I watched them before I watched the Originals, and I liked them better than the Originals. To this day, I cannot tell you why.
I didn’t love the prequels though. I’ve always felt like it lacked something to make my feelings go beyond liking it.
Then I discovered the clone wars.
Before this show, the clones felt like they were barely there, because they lacked a lot of humanizing moments. They were stoic, unquestionably following orders, no matter what they may be. We barely even see their faces, their identifying features being the identical helmets that keep their faces hidden. Even though they all share the same face, the Clone Wars takes the time to animate their differences. Rex’s distinctive blonde buzz, Cody’s scar, Jesse’s Republic Cog tattoo, and many, many more.
When order 66 happened, I felt sad yes, but I didn’t feel like my heart was ripped out and nothing could mend it. The clone wars changed that. It humanized these soldiers, gave them personalities, their codes of conduct, their uniqueness and distinctness from one another.
What really broke my heart though, was their relationship with the Jedi. In the movies, the betrayal didn’t hit as hard because we haven’t seen the Jedi and the clones fighting side by side, saving each other’s lives and bonding outside of the battlefield. The clones came out of Kamino completely rigid, colorless, and part of a collective, not individuals. The Jedi encouraged them to individualize and think for themselves, introduced what it means to be more than a pawn. The clone wars was greatly successful in getting its audience attached to this relationship, and without a second thought, ripped it away with the same betrayal in the Prequels, but this time, it felt a thousand times more heart wrenching than before.
The clone wars, for me, made the prequels a true tragedy.