By Ciaran Duggan,
In 2013 Dave Filoni publicly announced
the depressing news that Star Wars: The Clone Wars would be taken
off our screens. The remaining relic of George Lucas’ Star Wars Empire was
terminated in both brutal and swift fashion. At least this was the outlook
adopted by many fans of the Clone Wars TV series.
In the same year Disney made public
that a new animated series would come into fruition. The concept for their new
show was both similar and different to Lucas’ animated project. The fundamental
differences were obvious. The new animated show would take place in a different
time period, the story would focus on different characters and the tone of the
show would be targeted towards a different audience demographic. This show was named
Star Wars: Rebels.
In this week’s Live from Lothal
an impassionate debate was had concerning the influence of Clone Wars
onto Rebels. The debate was stimulated by events which occurred in the
recently released episode, The Last Battle. In spite of the fact Rebels
is dated fifteen years ahead of the events of the Clone Wars, fans were treated to an iconic battle between two
clone war veterans, in Rex and super tactical droid Kilani. In other words, a
final ‘Clone Wars’ battle.
From the outset the episode generated
flashbacks of nostalgia from a chorus of clone wars fans. The final fully
animated ‘Clone Wars’ episodes to air was two years ago on Netflix and clearly
this episode struck a chord amongst fans who missed the show.
Was the hype around last week’s episode overblown? And does the fact that people loved this particular episode of Rebels signify that the new animated series, as a show, is inherently weak and flawed?
Was the hype around last week’s episode overblown? And does the fact that people loved this particular episode of Rebels signify that the new animated series, as a show, is inherently weak and flawed?
The phrase that has often been uttered
to describe Rebels is "Clone Wars 2.0". In essence, this
phrase means that the animated series serves as a follow up or sequel to The
Clone Wars TV series.
From a chronological timeframe
outlook, this assessment can be a bit perplexing. Why revive story lines from
an antiquated era, fifteen years prior? Particularly when character story lines
such as Hondo Ohnaka, Ahsoka Tano, Captain Rex and Darth Maul have remained
untouched in the immediate years after the Clone Wars. Moreover, other stories
surrounding these characters have been disclosed to audiences through different
mediums. Just look at the Son of Dathomir (2014) comic series and E.K.
Johnston's recently released novel, Ashoka (2016).
The stigma
attached to Rebels is sometimes fair, but often unfounded. There are of course
many elements from The Clone Wars
which so far have featured in the new TV series. The inclusion of characters,
settings and storylines from the former TV show stem from the top. Rebels Executive
Producer Dave Filoni, writer Henry Gilroy and special effects animator Joel
Aaron previously worked on The Clone Wars before switching to Rebels. These
creators have ties to their former unfinished project.
In contrast, Disney and Lucasfilm representatives want to push a new directive. They want to pull in a new audience, whilst making sure the episodes and storylines are produced in line with a TV show rather than a miniature movie, comparable to TV favourites Game of Thrones, House of Cards, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the latest television blockbuster Westworld.
How does
one balance the interests of two very different factions within the creative
team? It isn’t easy. To criticise the episode – The Last Battle – for catering to The Clone Wars fans is unjustified.
Yes, the
episode could serve to alienate fans of Rebels who haven’t seen The Clone Wars.
The re-appearance of battle droids, a super tactical droid, Captain Rex,
droidekas and the citation of ‘The Clone War’ may not be seen as majorly significant or compelling to fans who
haven’t watched George Lucas’ old animated series. For instance, the change in
design to the outro logo from ‘Rebels’ to ‘Clone Wars’ generated Goosebumps for
some people.
Personally
however, I think that the episode works on its own. It works as a stand-alone
Rebels episode. Does one really need to comprehend what happened in The Clone Wars TV show to grasp the
meaning of the episode? To understand why the clones and droids dislike each
other? To decipher why the clones and droids came together to fight against the
empire?
may help to
have watched the Prequels, or the Clone Wars, to contextualise these battles but
I feel exposition from the characters was enough to grasp the meaning of events
of the episode itself.
In a way,
these characters’ act as conduits for audience members. Ezra, I would argue, is
a personification of an audience member who has never experienced or watched
the Clone Wars.
Ezra was
born on Empire Day – the day in which the ‘empire’ was officially recognised by
the Galactic Emperor, Palpatine, following the end to the Clone War.
When Rex chastises
Ezra about the fact that Ezra perceives the last battle “as a game”, it is metaphorically
comparable to Clone Wars fans looking down on Rebels watchers, who haven’t seen
the Clone Wars and dare to say that
Rebels is better than Clone Wars.
The point
of this piece is not to mercilessly attack supporters of either Clone Wars or Rebels.
Despite some similarities between the two shows it is important to note that they
are also very different.
The tone of
the Clone Wars was naturally darker because of the fact that the show was set
in ‘war-time’. To understand the gritty side of the war, you have to see it
presented to you on screen in a
visualised format. In addition, the storylines of the Clone Wars focused
heavily on the war in its entirety, rather than just follow a set of five or
six characters, like in Rebels.
The storylines
in Clone Wars were vast and diverse. One week there would be a showdown between
Count Dooku and the Jedi, the next week you could be watching an episode about
trade routes or droids. It was unpredictable, which was both a negative and
positive point about the show.
Rebels
follows a far more linear trajectory, focuses on a smaller set of characters
and attempts to advance their storyline. Of course the limits of this are that
their storylines can dry up and become disinteresting to an audience if there
is a lack of depth to a character.
Notwithstanding
this, Rebels is on its third season. When Clone Wars hit its prime, it did so
in season three. Up to that point many fans were luke-warm about the show. Not until
the show hit the second half of season three did people really buy into what
George Lucas was doing.
Who is to
say that in the future we won’t look back at Rebels and reminisce and become
nostalgic over the show once it reaches its conclusion?
Will we hear the phrase “yeah, but it wasn’t half as good as Star Wars Rebels” in the not too distant future? Don’t be shocked if we do.
Source: Star Wars YouTube
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