Hey Towelites I’ve been so caught up with Force Friday and the Journey to The Force Awakens that I’ve neglected to continue my review of The Clone Wars. Season Five would be the final season to be aired on Cartoon Network and it ran for a shorter length of 20 episodes. From beginning to end this is Ahsoka’s season and throughout we see how her studies and experiences along the way have helped her to become the “near-Jedi” she is by the end.
The theme for the season, and I remember this clearly from the promos, was ‘Who Will Fall’? Meaning basically, who’s gonna die? I guess it’s ok to do this when the show was on Primetime, but for Season 5, Clone Wars was moved to the Saturday morning slot, so maybe a little dark for kids. But hey they should be able to handle it right?
The season kicks right off with the return of everyone’s favorite Dathomirian Brother duo, Maul and Savage Oppress. My question to everyone out there is, do we continue giving Maul that Darth title if he is no longer the apprentice of the Dark Lord of the Sith? Or is he just a regular Dark Jedi? I vote for the latter. Same thing goes for the Inquisitor in Rebels. Hondo returns in the premiere when some of his pirate lackies decide to join up with the brothers forcing the wise-cracking leader to ally himself with Obi-Wan. Another episode sees the brothers team-up with the Mandalorian terrorist group, Death Watch. Maul wants to use the army to his advantage in his war for revenge against Kenobi. Of course as usual the villains fall short and are defeated by the Jedi and his friends. We also get our answer to ‘who will fall’ by the end of this arc when Palpatine aka Darth Sidious decides to take things into his own hands and put the brothers down. An epic lightsaber battle ensues and by the end of it Savage Opress lies dead and Maul is defeated, but as Sidious states, ‘he has other plans for him’. 
In a series of rather amusing and fun episodes that involve a cast of droids and a very small Colonel named Meebur Gascon, R2D2 takes center stage. These droid-centric episodes are some of the best of the lot as they deal with secret missions, missing clones, as well as an eccentric Pit Droid by the name of WAC-47. Another great run of episodes deal with the beginnings of rebellion in the universe. The planet of Onderon is under Separatist control and the people are suffering. So the Republic sends down Anakin Skywalker and crew to help secretly train them.
The most important storyline this season deals with Ahsoka leaving the Jedi Order. As we were all pleasantly surprised, she shows up on Rebels at the end of season one as we learn that she has been serving the Rebellion under the name Fulcrum. The name also pops up in Aftermath, the latest “New Canon” novel, so when you watch Clone Wars rest assured that this won’t be the last time you’ll see everyone’s favorite Padawan. Ahsoka comes full circle in this season alone, from the epic episode that deals with Younglings going through their final test to become padawans to her being betrayed by the order itself. As we approach the event of Revenge of the Sith, and I remember clearly thinking that she would be the one to die over the course of the season, I held firmly that she would not make it out of S5 unscathed. Now that I look back on it, I feel that this was the best course of action that could have taken place as she is a very popular character. I love that Ahsoka has free reign to be a big part of the Star Wars universe to come. But her departure also holds it’s own issues for her Master. The great thing about this show is that it remedies the pace at which the Prequel Trilogy throws events at us. The CW helps us to put the movies into a better perspective and give us a better understanding of why Skywalker made the decision to turn against the Jedi. I thought that the storyline, which I won’t spoil too much of was one of the best of the series. It brings back a character and a plot twist you never see coming. But most of all it shows just how vulnerable the Jedi have become as Sidious continues to pull their strings.
Season Five was non-stop and a lot of fun, but with the Disney buyout the end of it seemed a little abrupt. Of course the “Lost Episodes” would come later and help to bring closure to some storylines, but at the same time there are still a lot of questions out there. It was sad to see Ahsoka go. I find her character to be one of the best new characters out there, which I find funny because I was very hesitant to accept the fact that Anakin had a Padawan, when the show first aired. Ahsoka has made her way to the top of many fans favorite lists and we are seeing a bunch of new collectibles based on the character rolling out this year. It will be interesting to see what her fate is now that she knows her old master is Darth Vader.
