It's been 11 years since Star Wars: Clone Wars first premiered on Cartoon Network and proved that there were parts of the prequel trilogy that could not only be expanded upon but also greatly exceeded the low expectations that the second trilogy series set. During its five-season broadcast run, the series received universal acclaim and several Emmy Awards.
After the 6th season on Netflix, The same creative team would go on to create an equally loved animated series: Star Wars Rebels. With Star Wars fever at an all-time high this week, we decided to point out the best of both series and explain why Star Wars Rebels is better than Star Wars: Clone Wars and vise Versa. Expect some spoilers ahead.
Updated May 19th, 2020 by George Chrysostomou: The Clone Wars has come to an end which means it's a great time to go back to the two shows and look at a few more comparisons over which one was actually better.
15 Clone Wars Did Better: Original Characters
The first canon animated show had to do a lot for the Star Wars universe. Not only did it need to set the standard for what Lucasfilm animation would produce, but it also had to be responsible for being the first TV show in the franchise.
New characters had to be created in order for there to be enough content to explore. It did a fantastic job of establishing characters like Captain Rex and Ahsoka Tano, who later go on to hugely influence the Rebels series.
14 Rebels Did Better: Linking The Franchise
One of the huge things that Rebels managed to do was link the series to the larger Star Wars franchise. Whether it was a chopper cameo in Rogue One or the upcoming rumored links between the show and The Mandalorian.
Although Clone Wars had to link up to the films, this was the show following on from what had already existed. Rebels, on the other hand, is continuing to influence content that Lucasfilm is currently producing.
13 Clone Wars Did Better: Adding To The Films
One thing that Clone Wars achieved was actually expanding the meaning of the prequel trilogy. While Rebels is an adventure happening adjacent to the original series, Clone Wars is a huge part of the story.
Not only does it go into great detail about Jedi which will make Revenge of the Sith even more tragic, but it also adds to lesser-known characters like Captain Cody and eventually plays directly into Order 66. This completes Anakin's journey even more and adds further importance to it.
12 Rebels Did Better: A Core Villain
One thing that Clone Wars lacked was a core villain. The show looked to try a variety of different antagonists and while some stood out, others were quickly forgotten about in the fast-moving pace of the series.
There are two clear foes that stand out when looking back at Rebels though. Thrawn, who has been the subject of a fantastic series of novels, and the Inquisitors who have gone on to be featured in other media such as Jedi: Fallen Order.
11 Clone Wars Did Better: The Finale
Both finales of the shows managed to be a poetic and thrilling send off for these characters. However, the impact of the Clone Wars finale and how it links to the Revenge of the Sith makes it that much better.
While no one knows what's next for the characters in Rebels, the end of the Clone Wars signifies a big turning point in the franchise, where the prequels move into the original trilogy territory. After so many seasons of the show, this conclusion felt far more emotionally powerful.
10 Rebels Did Better: Lightening Up
One thing that Star Wars Rebels knew how to do was use humor and a lighter tone. Sure, the comedy wasn't award-winning and on the same level as other shows on children's programming, but it helps distinguish its self from its predecessor. Characters weren't as grim and serious as in the prequel trilogy, as they all knew how to lighten up.
This aided in giving each character a much-needed sense of personality and comradery that was sorely lacking in its predecessor. Sure, characters quipped in Clone Wars, but it was more to lighten the mood in a bleak situation than interacting with characters in a natural fashion.
9 Clone Wars Did Better: Impactful Action
Lightsabers and blasters are the two most powerful tools in the Star Wars Universe. While Rebels made good use of action, they felt a bit more toned down when compared to how they were used in Clone Wars. Characters were injured and died from Gunshots, impaled by lightsabers, and much more.
This made the action far more entertaining than it was used in Rebels. That's not to say the action was terrible in Rebels, but seeing a character getting shot and noticing the impact the blaster made gave each battle an edge. Also, who doesn't love seeing an army of Jedi fight against an army of droids? It just doesn't get any cooler than that.
8 Rebels Did Better: Characters Whose Fates Were Unknown
The biggest downside to most battles in Clone Wars was the lack of suspense. People knew what was going to happen to all these characters. We know Anakin will become Dark Vader, we know that the clones will betray the Jedi and drive them to near extinction, we know Obi-Wan and Yoda won't die in any situation they are in since they're destined to die in A New Hope and Return of the Jedi. When Kanon gives his life to save his crew in Season 4, people were shocked and saddened because we didn't know what would happen to him.
We created an emotional attachment to this character and hoped he would be okay throughout the series. It may be a small detail, but it makes a huge difference when you don't know what's going to happen.
7 Clone Wars Did Better: Darker Storytelling
As much as we love the lighter-swashbuckling adventures of Rebels, we can't help but still long for the much darker storytelling of Clone Wars. While that's not to say that Rebels didn't have it's darker moments (especially in the latter two seasons), things went down big in Clone Wars.
Themes of abandoning your post for your gain, characters getting beheaded and killed off on a near regular basis, and even the fates of planets held on their shoulders. Sometimes these weren't from the Empire, but instead the inhabitants of the world. That's a lot going on for something that was initially meant for younger audiences.
6 Rebels Did Better: A Sense Of Adventure
Star Wars has always been about the sense of wonder of exploring vast alien worlds and the characters that inhabit them. They are participating in a galactic war against a fascist empire that wishes to control all of space, but that won't stop our heroes from exploring the various worlds of Dagobah or the snow world of Hoth. While Clone Wars did feature this, the fact that our heroes in Rebels were helping other cultures from the Empire gave the writers and artists a way to give each planet a story and a sense of purpose
We got to know each of the planets and characters that lived there much better than we did in Clone Wars. When the characters in Rebels were in awe of what they saw, so was the audience.
5 Clone Wars Did Better: The Emphasis On The War
Regardless of the wonder of seeing a distant planet, there's a reason why it's called "Star Wars." While the Rebels did eventually join up with the resistance, the actual political dilemma and battles were on a much smaller scale than what Clone Wars offered.
Clone Wars had large skirmishes and senators attempting to gain more followers to their side. Everything in Clone Wars was grand and epic, which makes sense when you're amidst intergalactic warfare.
4 Rebels Did Better: The Diverse Crew Of The Ghost
As much as we love characters like Ahsoka and Rex and his squad, it was hard to get attached to a lot of the Jedi and characters since they started to blend into one another slowly. Compare that to Rebels' smaller and much more diverse cast of characters.
You had Ezra the rebellious young kid, Kanon the wise and charismatic master, Zeb as the muscle and last of his kind, and so on. Because of this, this leads to much more interesting character dynamics than just simple quips.
3 Clone Wars Did Better: Filler
Every one of these 20 something episode series is going to have a few episodes that don't add much to the over-arching plot and is there to tell a few one-off episodes. Both shows are guilty of doing this, but Clone Wars did a fair job of at least making them feel like they had a sense of importance like you had to watch every single one of them to get the full picture.
Does anyone need to re-watch the episode where Chopper is separated and needs to get back to the crew? It's not just the fact that it's a bad episode; it doesn't add anything or have anything interesting in it. Even the weakest events of Clone Wars didn't feel like nothing.
2 Rebels Did Better: Darth Vader
Darth Vader is one of the most iconic characters in pop culture. There's not a single person who doesn't know who he is, even if they haven't seen any Star Wars movie. So, when Rebels announced that they would have the infamous villain making an appearance in its second season, fans got hyped. Not only did James Earl Jones return to voice Vader, but the show knew exactly how much to use him without feeling like it was pandering to older fans. The second Vader went up against the Ghost crew; you knew things were going to get heavy.
The best use was in the Season 2 finale, with Vader going up against his former apprentice, Asoka. It made for the most emotional battle in the Star Wars canon since audiences saw Luke and Darth Vader battle in Return of the Jedi.
1 Clone Wars Did Better: Fleshed Out And Complex Villains
While Darth Vader is still a great villain, the other villains in Rebels were more one-dimensional in their motives. Evil Inquisitors were evil because... They're evil. That's not to say Clone Wars had this; look at Dooku and Palpatine. However, they did slowly start to give some of their villain's much more distinct personalities and motives. You had charismatic bounty hunters, an evil witch matriarchy of Dathomirians that ruled over their male counterparts, and so on. Even characters like Asajj Ventress were given some depth. After Dooku kicked her out and tried to kill her, she hatched this elaborate plot to get revenge on Dooku.
Even Darth Maul, who started as one of the most boring villains Star War ever introduced, was far more fleshed out in this series. That goes to show how much better the creative forces behind Clone Wars were when compared to George Lucas when he made the prequel trilogy.