Watching The Clone Wars in order is somewhat hectic at the beginning. As production continued forward, they went back in time to fill in some story gaps, or to continue some previous storylines. Thus, there is a lot of jumping around early on.
For this installment, we’ll look at the following episodes and some of the tie-in books that go along with these episodes. There is a lot to cover for this installment, so let’s get going! The list below is what I consider to be the order of canon at this stage of The Clone Wars.
- Season 2, Episode 16: Cat and Mouse (216)
- Season 1, Episode 16: The Hidden Enemy (116)
- The Clone Wars novelization
- The Clone Wars junior novelization
- The Clone Wars movie
- Anakin in Action
- Battle at Teth
- The Battle Begins
- The Galactic Photobook
- The New Padawan
- Operation: Huttlet
- Season 3, Episode 1: Clone Cadets (301)
- Season 3, Episode 3: Supply Lines (303)
- Season 1, Episode 1: Ambush (101)
- Yoda in Action!
- Ambush (except bonus story at end)
- Meet Ahsoka Tano
- Season 1, Episode 2: Rising Malevolence (102)
- Season 1, Episode 3: Shadow of Malevolence (103)
- Season 1, Episode 4: Destroy Malevolence (104)
- Ambush bonus story, Cloak of Darkness
- The Clone Wars PopUp Book: Heroes
- Season 1 Episode Guide
The Del Rey novel for the movie is certainly a good read. Karen Traviss has some other fantastic books in the Star Wars universe. However, when considering canonicity, I have to question how the novel fits into the canon. I also question some of the writing decision for the book. I do not know if those decisions were made by Ms. Traviss or LucasLicensing, but the novel certainly explores the dark side of Anakin, shows him struggling with some of the decisions he’s made, and fosters the dark side within. Also, the book is written with a perspective on Palpatine that he’s Darth Sideous. This isn’t horrible, but if you’re going through these for the first time, it ruins that revelation for the end of Revenge of the Sith. This novel is written with the assumption that the reader is fully aware of who everyone is. Again, the novel is a good read, and it doesn’t really deviate from the movie. It could still be considered canon, but first time Star Wars readers will have some assumptions made about them and their knowledge of events that they may not yet have.
The Junior novel more closely follows the movie and does not really add much to the story. Anakin in Action follows the events of the movie, except the end of the book seems to indicate that Anakin and Ahsoka were able to hop aboard a LAAT/i and deliver Rotta safely, when in fact, the movie continues on. I don’t consider this to detrimental to the canon, so we’ll include it.
Battle at Teth and The Battle Begins both follow the movie with no deviations. The Galactic Photobook, The New Padawan, and Operation: Huttlet also follow the movie, but leave a lot of holes in the storyline. The New Padawan chronicles the battle of Christophsis and Operation: Huttlet chronicles the battle of Teth. Again, not detrimental to the overall canon. Meet Ahsoka Tano also follows the movie, but also includes material found in Rising Malevolence. I have placed it later in the list to bridge the gap between the three episodes between the movie and Season 1 Episode 2.
Yoda in Action! and Ambush both follow the Season 1 opener, Ambush, closely. Included at the end of the book Ambush is a short story, titled Cloak of Darkness, that follows Season 1 Episode 9 of the same name.
The Season 1 Episode Guide is actually more of a reference book. Throughout are short blurbs that further some of the storylines, and set up other storylines down the road. They also explain the backstory and history of each episode from a production standpoint. Lastly, the Heroes pop up book uses scenes from various Season 1 episodes throughout. It should be read at the end of the Season 1 episodes. Content within is directly from the television content, therefore it should be considered canon, but it reads like a summary, of sorts.
Now, as for the episodic content. All of this is considered Canon. In days past, this would be considered G-Canon since George was directly involved in production/writing. As you watch the episodes, you’ll see story arcs and relationships, which are actually quite nice. You can sit down and watch three or four of these in a row, feel like you’ve seen a movie, and have received a decent story, all at the same time. Or, it also allows you to take smaller bites of the story at time. Here are the story arcs in this installment.
Christophsis/Teth – Cat and Mouse (216), The Hidden Enemy (116), feature film
New Clones – Clone Cadets (301). This episode is foundational for other episodes scattered throughout that update us on these clones.
Toydarian system/Rugosa – Supply Lines (303), Ambush (101). These episodes set up a story arc later in Season 1.
The Malevolence trilogy – Rising Malevolence (102), Shadow of Malevolence (103), Destroy Malevolence (104)
One thing to note regarding content here. In Episode 16 of Season 1, The Hidden Enemy, there is clearly a familiarity between Asaaj Ventress and Obi-Wan Kenobi that implies they have met before. This has yet to be explored as part of the “new” timeline, but I bet there are clues in other sources. This merits additional research in the future.
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