Star Wars: The Clone Wars | My Top Ten Character Moments
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Megan Rickards 
Megan returns to The Clone Wars era to pick her top ten character moments from Dave Filoni’s landmark series….
Ah, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Where do I begin with this amazing show? It’s hard to believe it’s been ten years since it first started airing. While I will admit that I wasn’t a Star Wars fan at all while this show was airing on TV, when I became a fan of it later, I couldn’t help but be drawn in by its cast of characters. The ones below are just a handful that stood out to me along with their, in my opinion, standout moments.
10. Darth Maul:
Even being sliced in half by Obi-Wan Kenobi in The Phantom Menace, people rightly believed he was dead and thus never coming back. Who could survive that after all? Well, in a name, Darth Maul. Sure, it’s a bit unbelievable how Maul used his hate to keep him alive despite being sliced in half, but sometimes that’s the only option. Considering how Maul grew not just in this show, but also in Rebels, I would say it’s worth putting up with that flimsy excuse. With that said, my favorite Darth Maul moment out of all The Clone Wars episodes would have to come from season 5 episode 16 titled “The Lawless”, when he has taken over Mandalore and has the fabled Dark Saber in his hand. To the Mandalorians, that holds not only historical significance, but also symbolic. Anyone who wields that weapon should instantly be feared and obeyed. For Maul to not only rule Mandalore, even if just for a short period of time but also have the Dark Saber, says a lot about how far he has come since being sliced in half.
9. Hondo Ohnaka:
Oh, with this “classy” character, how do I pick just one? After going through many of his infamous moments with Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano, I finally settled on a moment from season 1 of the show appropriately titled “Dooku Captured”. At this moment, Hondo is not dealing with any of the three previously mentioned Jedi. Rather, he is openly walking in front of Dooku, who despite not having his lightsabers, is still a dangerous individual that you don’t want to mess with. The fact that Hondo does so without fear even though his prisoner still has full access to the Force is just so hilarious and typical of his character.
8. Fives:
This clone particularly stood out to me in season six, episode four “Orders”. He had recently found out about the chips embedded into the heads of all clones to make them obey Order 66 when the time came and was attempting to tell whoever he could about them. He did this in spite of the fact that few believed him. While I will admit that he looked crazy even to me as a viewer despite knowing the truth, it’s also a testament to just how far he would go to protect his brothers and by default, how much he loved them. So much did he love them, that he died for them in an effort to expose the truth. True, it unfortunately failed, but the fact still remains that he tried his damnedest and no one can fault him for that. For me, something like that takes a special type of person, let alone manufactured to be genetically identical to his brothers in every way. Chances are, without Fives, it would have been a lot more difficult for fan-favorite character Clone Captain Rex to escape during the execution of Order 66 than it already was. Not only would he have had to fight his brothers during his daring escape, but the chip’s control as well.
7. Lux Bonteri:
In the second episode of season five “A War on Two Fronts”, we get to watch this child that we previously witnessed mainly as a rich, but smart, senator’s son get trained and transformed into a decent soldier. Surprisingly, with the wealth and luxury he had been surrounded with for a large portion of his life to that point, he actually turned out not to be a half decent soldier in the fight to bring back his planet’s rightful ruler. More than that, it was also cute to see him flirt with another fan-favorite character Ahsoka Tano. Honestly, they make the cutest couple in the show. If only the Jedi Order allowed for romantic relationships.
6. Cad Bane:
When it comes to the character of Cad Bane, I have a difficulty picking between the first episode of season two “Holocron Heist” and the seventeenth episode of season four “The Box”. The former because there is a scene in it which Cad is playing with a toothpick in his mouth (that was supposed to be a cigarette before Lucasfilm nixed the idea), that is so quintessentially him. Whenever I think of his character, it’s the first picture that comes to mind. The latter is due to a scene which shows a different side of his personality. In it, he is rescuing fellow bounty hunter Rako Hardeen (really an undercover Obi-Wan Kenobi), from one of the many traps inside the puzzle maze that is “The Box”. It shows that for all his bounty hunter/out for himself attitude, he can be helpful to those around him. Being as “The Box” was a competition to see who was the best bounty hunter for an upcoming job, Cad Bane could have easily let Rako Hardeen die.
5. Satine:
Ah, Duchess Satine Kryze of Mandalore. Another remarkably strong woman in the line of strong Star Wars women. We may not have seen much of her, but what we did see was fun and interesting. My favorite moment from this woman happens in season two episode thirteen “Voyage of Temptation”. The moment is a small one between her and Obi-Wan Kenobi where she comments about being unsure about his beard. It’s cute because not very many people can get this normally stoic Jedi General flustered the way she way she can. In this moment, if you listen close enough, you can actually hear Obi-Wan’s voice break as he attempts to quickly compose himself.
4. Plo Koon:
My absolute favorite moment from this character comes in the second episode of the first season “Rising Malevolence”. Jedi General Plo Koon and his clone squadron have just been left stranded in an escape pod seemingly awaiting death thanks to Count Dooku and a brand new Separatist weapon. In this moment, Plo Koon not only manages to stay completely cool, calm and collected but also inspire his troops but also convince them to help defend what is left of their temporary shelter and survive as long as they have to until either help arrives or the worst happens. This moment just serves to demonstrate his overall personality and help those around them survive against all odds. In actuality, if not for Plo Koon, those troops likely would have given up and died at the hands of Count Dooku’s scavenger droids.
3. Captain Rex:
Because anyone who has watched any episodes of The Clone Wars knows that in this case, his name is all the reason you need. Not only did he manage to disobey Order 66, but he also slipped away into the galaxy to join the rebellion and survive up until the time of Return of the Jedi; a theory that had been floating around for many years and was only declared to be true earlier this year (2018) by supervising producer Dave Filoni himself. He confirmed it at the very end of this show’s successor Rebels. If Rex’s survival until that point is not badass for an animated character that started his life as just one face in a crowd of thousands if not millions, that looked just like him, then I don’t know what is. This why my favorite moment of his in this animated series has to be when he stands up to his temporary commander General Krell in season four episode ten titled “Carnage of Krell”. This moment just typifies his badassery as he willingly commits insubordination, a crime punishable by death, in order to save his brothers in arms who did nothing wrong.
2. Ahsoka Tano:
Like the clone captain before her, with whom she has often been romantically linked, this character has not only survived this show and made it into Rebels, but she also survived something even greater, Star Wars fans. Too many a time has fan reaction, both in this franchise and others, caused a character to either be downgraded or completely cut. Throughout this series, fans watched as she went from a character that could give Jar-Jar Binks a run for his money, to so beloved that they were “emotionally wrecked” to see her story end. For this reason, my favorite Ahsoka moment would have to be a tie between when we first meet her in The Clone Wars animated movie and when we see her leave towards the tail end of season five. Give me grief all you want about liking her in the animated movie, but really preteens and teens are annoying like that. For me, as annoying as it was, meeting her this way was very refreshing. She wasn’t just some carbon copy cut out that obeyed her master without question. She was brash, had a bit of an attitude and was very snippy. Also, without her starting out this way, her character growth would not have been as big or impactful.
1. Obi-Wan Kenobi:
Oh, how do I choose just one favorite moment for this man who has had so many amazing ones? After a lot of thought and contemplation, I have finally decided that my favorite Obi-Wan moment happens in season four episode thirteen “Escape From Kadavo”. In this episode Obi-Wan has been captured to be used as a slave along with Rex, in Kadavo’s slave trade system. Despite seemingly reaching his breaking point while toiling away as a slave in one of the likely many caves on the planet, Obi-Wan immediately brightens upon seeing the familiar if not amused, face of Anakin. What I like about these particular scenes with Obi-Wan is that it shows that while you may momentarily break the man, you can never completely destroy him. He will get right back up ready to fight again until his last breath.
- While the above are all memorable characters, I would like to give an honorable mention to Anakin Skywalker. Even with how fun and dynamic he is in this show and how much I like him in it, the reason he didn’t make the list is because I tried to stay away from the obvious picks. Yes, I have a few on here, but that’s because I could only pick ten characters and the ones on here just rank higher.
What are your favorite character moments from Star Wars: The Clone Wars? Drop us a line and share your thoughts.
The Future of the Force. The future of pop culture writing.
I am a major “Star Wars” fan who currently writes for Future of the Force and is absolutely loving it! Until my writing career really takes off, I am now writing for Future of the Force full time, having graduated Spring 2018 with my Bachelor’s Degree in Literature and Writing.
My other interests include ABC’s “The Good Doctor”, CW’s “Arrow” and “The Flash”, and DC’s “Batman”. Of all the iterations of Batman, my favorite would definitely have to be 1992’s “Batman: The Animated Series”.
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