‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ is back and off to a great start for its final season on Disney+
The Star Wars prequels are nothing if not problematic and divisive. They set up a good amount of lore for the Skywalker Saga as it’s now known, but most fans agree they are not good and generally terrible. But one shining beacon of goodness to come from the prequel-era was a little animated series that could, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.”
Premiering on Cartoon Network in 2008 and running for five seasons, then getting picked up for a sixth by Netflix in 2014, fans never truly saw a completion of that story that bridged the years between “Attack of the Clones” and “Revenge of the Sith.” With the launch of Disney+ last fall and the breakout success of “The Mandalorian,” fans were ecstatic to learn there would be a new and final season of “The Clone Wars” coming to the streaming service in February. With the first two episodes available to stream, this Star Wars fan is enjoying their return tremendously.
Without any spoilers, here’s what’s been happening in season seven. Episode one, “The Bad Batch,” introduces viewers to a new group of clone troopers of Clone Force 99, characterized by their “flaws” against the perfected clone design. They’re brought in to help the embattled Republic campaign to find out why they keep losing ground in every battle because the Separatist Droid Army seem to know their playbook.
Commander Cody and Captain Rex recount how the droids are able to analyze tactics and find patterns to exploit and believe they have somehow learned Rex’s own strategy. Rex later confides in Cody that he believes one of their fallen brethren, Echo, thought to have died in battle, may have something to do with this as he and Rex formulated the very strategy being exploited.
Enter Clone Force 99, a defective batch of troopers who underwent mutations to have a specific set of skills. We meet Hunter, Wrecker, Crosshair and Tech. The newly assembled team head for the Separatist Cyber Center. The discovery they make there (no spoilers) sets things in motion for what will be a four-episode arc to start the season.
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