One of the biggest successes of the Star War universe away from the big screen is the animated series The Clone Wars. Set between the second and third prequel movies, this series fleshed out the stories of the Jedi, Clones, Sith, and everyone else involved in the conflict.
The series was first canceled after Season 5. Netflix produced Season 6 and Season 7 was eventually released on Disney+. While the final season lived up to expectations in some ways, there were others where it just didn't. It was good overall but some things could have been improved for fans.
10 WASN'T WORTH THE WAIT: Cad Bane Was MIA
A big part of what made The Clone Wars work was the new characters the series introduced to fans. That included the bounty hunter Cad Bane, a Durosian who looked like he came out of the Wild West and carried as much gear as a Mandalorian.
The problem was Season 7 all but forgot he existed. Frankly, so did Seasons 5 and 6. After a failed attempt to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine in Season 4, he wouldn't be seen again until Season 1 of The Bad Batch. Fans were disappointed that The Clone Wars didn't follow up with him in Season 7.
9 WAS WORTH THE WAIT: Connecting The Series To Order 66
When the series came to an end after Season 6, it had stopped short of depicting the actual events of Order 66. It had already been seen in Revenge of the Sith but being that the show had spent so much time with the Clones, fans wanted to see how it played out from a different angle.
Season 7 gave fans that moment of closure as Order 66 was implemented. Its direct impacts on several key characters in the series were shown, including Maul, Captain Rex, and Ahsoka Tano. This set the stage for what was to come in both Rebels and The Bad Batch.
8 WASN'T WORTH THE WAIT: The Rafa And Trace Storyline
Season 5 ended with a storyline focused on Ahsoka Tano. Framed for serious crimes that she did not commit, the Padawan was excommunicated from the Jedi Order and on the run from the Republic. After being exonerated, she still chose to permanently walk away from the Jedi.
Ahsoka was completely absent from Season 6, which frustrated fans. While they finally got some closure in Season 7, part of that journey included two new characters named Rafa and Trace. They were not exactly fan favorites and were part of a filler arc that just seemed to eat up time.
7 WAS WORTH THE WAIT: Returning To Mandalore
Eventually, Ahsoka's story got rolling after the story with Rafa and Trace came to an end. While she didn't rejoin the Jedi, she was brought back in by the Republic to lead a battle group to Mandalore to free it from the grip of Maul.
This story was superb because it gave fans one more scene between Ahsoka and Anakin Skywalker. Additionally, she was reunited with Captain Rex, one of her closest allies and friends. And the duel between Ahsoka and Maul on Mandalore was appropriately epic.
6 WASN'T WORTH THE WAIT: No Closure On Asajj Ventress
Asajj Ventress was introduced in a micro-series of animated shorts directed by Genndy Tartakovsky. But she was subsequently popularized in The Clone Wars. Born a Nightsister, Asajj was taken by a gangster as a baby, then trained by a Jedi and subsequently became Count Dooku's apprentice.
Ventress was definitely a fan favorite though she was completely absent from both Seasons 6 and 7. While Asajj Ventress does have an end to her story in other media, leaving her completely out of the final season was a surprise and a mistake.
5 WAS WORTH THE WAIT: How Ashoka And Rex Survived
Rebels was an animated series set 14 years after the end of the Clone Wars. It detailed the adventures of a Rebel cell that included a pair of Jedi. But both Ahsoka and Captain Rex were also part of the series, leaving fans to wonder how they were still alive.
Season 7 of The Clone Wars came out years after Rebels ended. This allowed the show's creators to fill in that gap. It showed how Ahsoka survived Order 66, freed Rex from his inhibitor chip, and escaped the clutches of the new Galactic Empire together.
4 WASN'T WORTH THE WAIT: Hondo Ohnaka Did Not Appear
Another major secondary character in both The Clone Wars and Rebels was Hondo Ohanka. The nefarious Weequay pirate often ran afoul of pretty much everyone, including the Jedi, the Republic, the Separatists, and several bounty hunters. His decisions were defined by profit, not morality.
Hondo appeared several times throughout the series, though disappeared after Season 5. While he played a sizable role in Rebels, the fact that he had no contributions to Season 7 of The Clone Wars was surprising to fans. Hopefully, he plays a part in The Bad Batch because he has more stories to tell.
3 WAS WORTH THE WAIT: Introducing The Bad Batch
Speaking of the Bad Batch, this group of specialized Clone troopers made their debut in Season 7. Before that point, only a couple of Clones who differed from the template had popped up throughout the series. But this group was by far the most interesting.
While the announcement hadn't been made when Season 7 came out, their arc was quite obviously a backdoor pilot for a series focused entirely on them. The Bad Batch is still finding its groove but the characters are excellent and the show has huge potential.
2 WASN'T WORTH THE WAIT: Count Dooku Was Not A Factor
Fans know how the story of Count Dooku ended. He died at the hands of Anakin Skywalker, a pawn sacrificed in the larger strategy of his master Darth Sidious. The realization of this sad truth washing over Dooku's face in his final moments was one of the most compelling moments of the prequel trilogy.
Still, it was a bit of a surprise that Dooku did not play a role in Season 7. He was one of the major villains of the series and a character who had grown by leaps and bounds throughout it. There were definitely fans disappointed by him not being more engaged in the final episodes.
1 WAS WORTH THE WAIT: Bringing Echo Back
The Clone Wars was a success because it took characters that were a bit one-dimensional in the prequel trilogy, fleshed them out, and made them much more engaging. This was true of various Jedi, Separatists, Sith, and, of course, Clones.
One of the more popular Clones was Echo who appeared to die on a mission earlier in the series. The introduction of the Bad Batch in Season 7 included the revelation that Echo survived. They rescued him from the clutches of the Techno Union, and his story now continues in The Bad Batch.