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00:00Star Wars The Clone Wars began with a 2008 feature film and subsequently spawned a show that ran for seven
00:06fantastic seasons ending in 2020.
00:09The series gave us the chance to finally understand what happened between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the
00:14Sith,
00:14but there is much more to this show than what lies on the surface.
00:18The series was a maze of planning, well-placed easter eggs and cathartic resolutions to many a character's journeys.
00:24So hold tight, because I'm Gareth from WhatCultureStarWars, and here are 10 mind-blowing facts you didn't know about Star
00:31Wars The Clone Wars.
00:32Number 10, The Name Game
00:34Ahsoka Tano is arguably the breakout star of The Clone Wars.
00:38First appearing in the feature film and being expertly fleshed out over the seven-season show,
00:43Ahsoka joined canon as Anakin Skywalker's new and unwanted Padawan.
00:47Ahsoka was created by George Lucas as a way of adding a new layer to Anakin's story.
00:51She represents the true good of the galaxy and is a great character to juxtapose her master's darkening personality.
00:58Originally, however, Lucas wanted to call her Ashlar, which he says means light side.
01:03Also, it's been revealed that Ashlar is actually a canon character, a Jedi youngling who briefly appears in Attack of
01:09the Clones.
01:10However, Lucas changed his mind about Ahsoka's name in the end.
01:14Number 9, Crossing Paths
01:15You might remember in Revenge of the Sith, when Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi come face-to-face with General
01:21Grievous,
01:22as they attempt to save Chancellor Palpatine from the evil Separatists.
01:26Grievous famously calls Anakin out and says, I thought you'd be taller.
01:29It's a throwaway line in a long and epic film, but one that proved to be quite the hurdle for
01:34showrunner Dave Filoni when he came to make The Clone Wars.
01:37On the show, Anakin is the primary protagonist, and Grievous is a major antagonist.
01:42But because it would ruin the continuity of the films if the two were to meet on the show,
01:46Filoni had to execute a series of narrative backflips to keep the two apart.
01:50Every time there's a chance the two will see each other, something steps in to push him away.
01:55It's a shame in many respects that the two never cross paths and get a chance to fight on the
01:59show,
02:00but is of course necessary for the continuity.
02:02Plus, in its place, we get Grievous and Obi-Wan's rivalry, which is one of the best in the entire
02:07canon.
02:08Number 8. Cast Connections
02:10Anyone worth their kyber crystals knows who Mark Hamill is.
02:13But did you know that he was also in The Clone Wars, playing someone radically different to ultimate good guy
02:18Luke Skywalker?
02:20Hamill has a voiceover cameo in Season 6, Episode 13, Sacrifice, where he voices ancient Sith Darth Bane,
02:27who appears as a ghostly vision to Yoda as he visits the Sith planet of Moraband.
02:31Any trace of Luke's voice is lost in Bane, and it gives Hamill the chance to play someone who diverges
02:36from his more popular role.
02:38Hamill is not the only one who revisits the canon in The Clone Wars, however.
02:42As in the 2008 film, Samuel L. Jackson got the chance to reprise his role as Mace Windu.
02:47He's replaced for the majority of the show by Terrence Carson, who captures Jackson's voice beautifully, it must be said.
02:53But he also makes an appearance in Season 7 thanks to archive footage from Revenge of the Sith.
02:57Liam Neeson, meanwhile, gets to reprise his role as Qui-Gon Jinn for several episodes of The Clone Wars, where
03:03he appears as a Force ghost.
03:05His role is much more significant than both Jackson's and Hamill's, but equally as rewarding for long-time fans.
03:117. Animating Dueling
03:13Up until Season 7, The Clone Wars was completely animated, even the lightsaber duels.
03:19This isn't a bad thing by a long shot, as many of the fights in the series rival and even
03:24surpass those in the films.
03:26I know, blasphemy.
03:27That being said, the best duel the show has to offer comes in Season 7, Episode 10, between Ahsoka Tano
03:33and a revitalized Darth Maul.
03:35But did you know that this fight was created mostly through the use of motion capture technology?
03:39When watching it back, you realize just how seamless and complex the characters' movements actually are.
03:45In the scene, professional stunt artist Lauren Mary Kim and Ray Park, who played Maul in both The Phantom Menace
03:50and Solo, A Star Wars Story, provide motion capture performances for Ahsoka and Darth Maul, respectively.
03:57Add their talents to the vocal chops of Ashley Eckstein and Sam Witwer, as well as the stylish animation the
04:02series is now known for.
04:03And what you're left with is one of the most visually stunning and satisfying moments of the entire series.
04:09Number 6, The 501st Legion
04:11In 1997 in South Carolina, Albin Johnson and Tom Cruise founded The 501st Legion, a charitable organization that makes realistic
04:21costumes from the original trilogy.
04:23Johnson and Cruise started by making Stormtrooper costumes and styled themselves The 501st Legion, or Vader's Fist.
04:30The name was coined to honor both the films and the real-life heroes of World War II.
04:34Their popularity grew at such a rate that even George Lucas joined them at a charity event at one point.
04:39Eventually, they became canon in Timothy Zahn's novel Survivor's Quest, and the clone unit subsequently appeared in Revenge of the
04:45Sith with Darth Vader as he sacks the Jedi Temple.
04:48Although not named in the film itself, the Battalion of Clones was revealed to be the 501st thanks to Lucasfilm's
04:54merchandising.
04:55Of course, all this eventually led to the 501st Legion becoming a part of the Clone Wars later down the
05:00line, serving under Anakin and his padawan Ahsoka.
05:03All of this makes for a very sweet and respectable way of honoring the many fans of Star Wars.
05:08But perhaps the best thing about the 501st is that it gave us its superior, Captain Rex, who remains one
05:13of the show's most popular figures.
05:15Number 5, Humanizing the Clones
05:17Since we're on the subject of Captain Rex and the clones who give the series its name, let's take a
05:22look here at the veteran clone's conception and the work that goes into personalizing the men who all sound and
05:27look the same.
05:29Rex was originally going to be called Alpha, after a clone called Alpha 17 who appeared in the comic Star
05:34Wars Republic.
05:35But the name was scrapped because Lucas felt the main cast featured too much alliteration already.
05:39Lucas then decided to call him Rex instead, and gave him the job of being the central clone character of
05:44the show.
05:45Enter Dee Bradley Baker, who had the job of voicing the clones.
05:48Despite all the troopers effectively being the same person, Baker knew as well as Lucas and showrunner Dave Filoni that
05:54the essence of the show was to humanize the clones.
05:57Baker thus went to great lengths to differentiate the troopers, recording all their lines separately and adding inflections on key
06:04adjectives for each one.
06:05Rex was given the most thought due to his large role on the show, and Baker and Filoni even made
06:10a clone triangle to help rank the troopers by the importance of their role on the show,
06:14which Rex obviously topped.
06:164. Lost Episodes and Arcs
06:18Despite its popularity on Cartoon Network, The Clone Wars was cancelled midway through Season 6 after being purchased by Disney.
06:26Although Disney brought the show back for a seventh and final season on its new streaming service,
06:30the season was shortened and many key arcs and storylines were left unresolved.
06:34The two key arcs have been made into successful and well-reviewed novels and comics,
06:38but would likely have been better suited to the show, it must be said.
06:41For example, the comic Son of Dathomir detailed a four-episode arc which would have seen Darth Maul kidnapped and
06:47tortured by Darth Sidious following the death of Savage Opress.
06:51The whole story would have been epic, pitting Maul against both Dooku and Grievous.
06:55That's not the arc we long for the most, however, as on the show, Asajj Ventress is robbed of the
07:00chance to have her story end on a satisfactory high.
07:03In an epic eight-episode arc, the former assassin would have sought forgiveness from the Jedi Council and joined forces
07:09with eccentric Jedi Quinlan Vos in a bid to kill Count Dooku.
07:13These stories would have been an excellent addition to the series and would have added further gravitas to characters we
07:18had grown to root for already.
07:203. Radically Different Pitch
07:22There was actually once a time when Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi were set to be side characters on
07:27the show.
07:28I know, imagine that.
07:29Instead, Dave Filoni wanted the series to revolve around the crew of a ship reminiscent to the iconic Millennium Falcon.
07:35On the ship, audiences would have met a smuggler, his girlfriend, a Gungan called Lunker,
07:40a Jedi Padawan called Ashla who would go on to become Ahsoka Tano, and her master.
07:44A lot of this went on to become the basis of Star Wars Rebels.
07:47Filoni's vision was put in place to steer clear of the continuity of the films,
07:51as he didn't want to interfere with what had already been put into canon.
07:54However, George Lucas eventually joined the project and decided the series would be better if it focused on the characters
08:00audiences already knew.
08:01On top of that, Filoni later wanted Ahsoka to be Obi-Wan's Padawan.
08:05But once more, Lucas saved the day and steered him in a more compelling Skywalker direction.
08:102. Honoring the Past
08:11In the early development of The Clone Wars, Lucas said he didn't want certain characters appearing in the film or
08:17the series.
08:18These primarily included Chewbacca, Jabba the Hutt, Boba Fett, and Han Solo.
08:22Although the former three were all eventually added to the show,
08:25everyone's favorite rebel smuggler never made an appearance.
08:28However, that doesn't mean his legacy strayed too far.
08:31Captain Rex, for example, bears a small scar on his chin as reference to a similar cut on solo actor
08:37Harrison Ford.
08:38Also in a less direct reference to the famed pilot,
08:40a season 3 arc sees some of our favorites freezing themselves in carbonite.
08:45The fact that the carbonite freezing was a success during this dangerous mission gives us insight into how Darth Vader
08:51knew it would work on solo years later.
08:53Whether this was direct foreshadowing or not, it nonetheless remains a nice little nod to one of the original trilogy's
08:59most iconic moments.
09:03Music has always been a unique selling point of the Star Wars films and The Clone Wars.
09:07John Williams' masterful and suspenseful score is a pop culture touchstone,
09:11and The Clone Wars does well by honoring the maestro's tones.
09:15Although Williams himself has not written any music specifically for the show,
09:18his most famous numbers still make it into the series.
09:21The most prominent examples can be found in Season 7,
09:24as the threat of Order 66 begins to loom over the galaxy and the fate of our heroes.
09:29For example, as the Siege of Mandalore unfolds,
09:31we get the chance to hear the same music used in the opening of Revenge of the Sith,
09:35when Anakin and Obi-Wan are seen racing to save the Chancellor,
09:38showing that they are taking place at the same time.
09:41But the most compelling use of Williams' work comes when Captain Rex gets the famous Order from Darth Sidious.
09:46It's a heartbreaking, and unfortunately inevitable moment.
09:50As Rex turns on his friend and joins his brothers in trying to kill Ahsoka,
09:54as Ahsoka holds them off, you can hear Williams' Anakin's dark deeds play,
09:58the same song used in Revenge when Darth Vader eliminates the Separatist Council.
10:02It's a sneaky easter egg, and easy to miss given the tension of the events unfolding.
10:06But once you notice it, it's the kind of thing that makes you both smile and feel a sudden pang
10:11of nostalgia.
10:12And that's our list of any other mind-blowing facts fans didn't know about Star Wars,
10:16the Clone Wars.
10:17Let me know all about them in the comments section right down below,
10:19and do not forget to like, share, and click on that subscribe button while you're at it.
10:23Also, make sure to head on over to whatculture.com and find some more incredible articles,
10:27just like the one this video you're watching right now is based on.
10:29I've been Gareth from WhatCulture Star Wars, thank you very much for watching this video today.
10:33May the Force be with you, and I will see you very, very soon.
10:36Bye-bye.
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