Summary
- The anthology approach of The Clone Wars creates confusion for first-time viewers, as the show jumps around the timeline, making it jarring and unnatural to follow.
- The animation in The Clone Wars season 1 is rough compared to later seasons, with unpolished moments. The show's animation improved over time.
- Ahsoka's character in The Clone Wars season 1 didn't show the nuance and development she would later have, making her initially come across as annoying and hot-headed.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is one of the most beloved entries in the Star Wars franchise, but some harsh realities become clear while re-watching season 1. Many TV shows take a while to reach their full potential, and The Clone Wars had many problems in its first season that held the series back from its full potential. That's not to say The Clone Wars season 1 is terrible, as it has some of the show's best episodes, but it also contains some of the worst episodes in the Star Wars franchise.
Unfortunately, these problems with The Clone Wars season 1 make it hard for newcomers to get into the series. This keeps many viewers from experiencing the superb storytelling of the later seasons and gaining context that makes other Star Wars movies and TV shows more enjoyable. Re-watching The Clone Wars season 1 after 15 years reveals 10 harsh realities that held the show back from the beginning.
Your browser does not support the video tag. 10 The Clone Wars' Anthology Approach Is Confusing 
The Clone Wars' anthology approach has benefits but creates confusion, especially for first-time viewers. The series would often jump around the timeline, so when viewed in release order, it can be jarring when dead characters are suddenly alive or when battles are waged on planets that were liberated in earlier episodes. The Star Wars website's official Clone Wars chronological episode order fixes this problem, but there are still instances where it feels unnatural to jump around seasons.
9 Star Wars' Animation Has Improved With Time 
Star Wars animation looked superb when The Clone Wars season 7 was released in 2020, but the animation looked rough when the show began in 2008. The team was still refining the animation, making it bizarre that Lucas released a Clone Wars movie in theaters when it was designed for television. The animation is never terrible in The Clone Wars season 1, but several moments seemed unpolished compared to later seasons.
8 Clone Wars Season 1's Ahsoka Doesn't Show The Nuance She Would Develop 
Ahsoka Tano has become one of the Star Wars franchise's most popular characters, but that wasn't the case in The Clone Wars season 1. May fans hated the idea of Anakin Skywalker having an apprentice, so it didn't help that Ahsoka sometimes came across as annoying and hot-headed. The character quickly improved as the show continued and developed into a fantastic character, but The Clone Wars season one shows no signs of that outcome.
7 Some Star Wars First Encounters Should Have Been Left For Revenge Of The Sith 
The Clone Wars season 1 didn't always perfectly align with the movie timeline, with some character encounters being the best example. As great as the Anakin/Dooku and Obi-Wan/Grievous rivalries were, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith strongly implied that these characters had never come face to face between the films. This makes it feel like Filoni and the team wanted to include as many characters as possible regardless of whether it contradicted the prequel trilogy.
6 Clone Wars Season 1 Retconned Established Stories At The Time 
Before the Star Wars canon reboot in 2014, The Clone Wars season 1 was already contradicting stories that were part of the official continuity at the time. The 2D micro-series Star Wars: Clone Wars and the Clone Wars multimedia project had already covered the Clone Wars in detail, so Lucasfilm initially promised that everything would fit together in the timeline. Unfortunately, it soon became evident that Filoni's team was creating a new Clone Wars timeline, and many Expanded Universe fans still resent the show for this reason.
