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- Clone Wars: Refocused, The
Clone Wars: Refocused, The
Featured
Updated
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Franchise:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2008 - 2020
Original Running Time:
2710
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
1637
Time Cut:
1110
Time Added:
37
Subtitles Available?
Available in HD?
Additional Links:
Brief Synopsis:
THE CLONE WARS: REFOCUSED presents the entire Clone Wars as a complete series of five seasons of about ten TV-length episodes each. Now structured and presented with the conventions of a more mature modern TV drama, it tells the complete narrative of the Clone Wars, retaining all the most important and enjoyable elements of the show, whilst trimming a vast amount of the weaker content, saving you over 17 hours total while still telling the same core narratives. Episodes have been refined, refocused, reordered and recontextualised to maximise story quality and viewer enjoyment, both for the show’s own complete end-to-end story, and for those seeking a supplement or introduction to new canon like the Mandalorian, Bad Batch, and wider Filoniverse.
Intention:
I'd been a long-time fan of Smudger's TV-to-Movie TCW edits, and when NumeralJoker released his edit combining each arc into single episodes, I realised that, like The Mandalorian, episodes of any length could be appropriate so long as the content was engaging. I therefore set out to present the best of its content in the best possible way, making quality of experience the most important metric, improving and pacing each episode and the whole. In this way you can enjoy the most emotionally resonant and exciting moments in a coherent, digestible, engaging narrative with a more consistent tone, without filler or cringe.
It’s my intention that you should be able to replace the original official release of The Clone Wars with Refocused, losing nothing of importance for your enjoyment of the wider franchise, whilst getting the maximum possible enjoyment out of the story of the clone wars.
It’s my intention that you should be able to replace the original official release of The Clone Wars with Refocused, losing nothing of importance for your enjoyment of the wider franchise, whilst getting the maximum possible enjoyment out of the story of the clone wars.
Additional Notes:
The show as a whole presents the episodes in a new, more compelling order - which doesn’t break canon - but which gives the best pacing, variety, and character balance, while allowing some of the more important and satisfying elements of the show to begin earlier and remain in focus, building in anticipation and excitement over time. Ahsoka’s growth is a core focus, Maul and Mandalore are ever-present growing threats, and each group of episodes presents itself as a coherent flowing season with a focused theme while developing the overall narrative of the show. Seasons are about ten episodes long, totalling about five to six hours each - about the same length as modern Disney Star Wars or Marvel seasons, to keep them accessible and digestible without making watching this show feel like a daunting task.
Other Sources:
* Tartakovsky 2003 Clone Wars miniseries (as an optional prelude and one optional episode)
* TCW Movie
* Some Forces of Destiny shorts (as part of an optional interlude episode)
* 'Ahsoka's Decision' CG animated version of a cut scene by Cinematic Captures on Youtube (used with permission)
* TCW Season Six
* Tales of the Jedi (as optional prologue, interlude, and epilogue)
* A little of the Rebels episode 'Twin Suns' (as an optional coda)
* TCW Movie
* Some Forces of Destiny shorts (as part of an optional interlude episode)
* 'Ahsoka's Decision' CG animated version of a cut scene by Cinematic Captures on Youtube (used with permission)
* TCW Season Six
* Tales of the Jedi (as optional prologue, interlude, and epilogue)
* A little of the Rebels episode 'Twin Suns' (as an optional coda)
Special Thanks:
* McFibb, for some incredible musical arrangements
* Hal9000, for early and consistent support, and for vouching for this project
* ArtIsDead, for patience and support, and most importantly for a huge amount of help getting this over the line and into your hands
* My many much-valued collaborators and supporters at Fanedit.org and at OriginalTrilogy.com
This has been a long journey, and I couldn't have done it without you all.
* Hal9000, for early and consistent support, and for vouching for this project
* ArtIsDead, for patience and support, and most importantly for a huge amount of help getting this over the line and into your hands
* My many much-valued collaborators and supporters at Fanedit.org and at OriginalTrilogy.com
This has been a long journey, and I couldn't have done it without you all.
Release Information:
Digital
Special Features
A master 'tracker spreadsheet' with links and detail to each episode, including a section which highlights which episode to watch based on your personal preferences, including a more focused 'Just give me what I need for the Filoniverse content' cut.
Editing Details:
OVERALL STRUCTURE:
- So naturally each episode itself is traditionally edited, but this is a full series edit so a lot of thought has gone into reordering and recontextualising some of the episodes themselves. As I started work, I found that the ongoing story naturally broke into five seasons of about ten episodes each - nice, digestible chunks, each about the length of a season of a Disney live-action show. Within each season, I pay attention to the overall narrative, the balance of characters between episodes, the development of the characters and most importantly the development of Ahsoka.
- The most significant reordering comes from the Maul and Mandalore plotlines, which are very strong and well paid-off in the finale, so I wanted to get them running far sooner, making them almost the ‘spine’ of the show. I therefore took any episode which featured Maul or Mandalore and strung those out throughout the show - generally splitting these arcs into individual episodes rather than presenting them aggregated (as fanedits have tended to do in the past). This way, Maul and Mandalore get to act as ever-present wildcard threats (kind of like Moff Gideon in the Mandalorian). This required minor trims in a few places so as to not break canon.
- I also wanted to allow Rex and his relationship with obedience and loyalty to be a plotline that developed across the show, but without drawing focus from what I want to keep as our main characters and storylines. I achieved this by having a single ‘Rex explores loyalty’ episode each season, which balances nicely. In the second season, that episode is a special anthology episode combining the Rex/Clone parts of the episodes Hidden Enemy, Gregor (from Droids in the Void), and Deserter.
- I am also preserving the secret of Sidious’ identity until Revenge of the Sith, for those who want to watch this in chronological order or with a first-time viewer.
- Since the original show (especially earlier on) was very much an anthology show, episodes often had little bearing on one another, main characters often didn’t appear for a few episodes at a time, and the show had quite arbitrarily allocated premieres or finales. I’ve tried to remedy this a little. I’ve cut the seasons into more thematic chunks, worked on narrative flow and character balance between episodes, and I’ve chosen premieres and finales which more punctuate the theme of the season, or particularly test our main characters.
- Many episodes and arcs (more detail below) are recontextualised or otherwise improved from their original presentation, both to tighten their own content and to enhance the overall plot of the show. In a few cases I have completely changed the narrative for quality - see s02e03, s03e01, and s04e02 for the most radical changes.
- And naturally, each episode features heavy trims for pacing, removing filler or cringe, misplaced humour or unnecessary action. It's a lot more enjoyable throughout.
- So naturally each episode itself is traditionally edited, but this is a full series edit so a lot of thought has gone into reordering and recontextualising some of the episodes themselves. As I started work, I found that the ongoing story naturally broke into five seasons of about ten episodes each - nice, digestible chunks, each about the length of a season of a Disney live-action show. Within each season, I pay attention to the overall narrative, the balance of characters between episodes, the development of the characters and most importantly the development of Ahsoka.
- The most significant reordering comes from the Maul and Mandalore plotlines, which are very strong and well paid-off in the finale, so I wanted to get them running far sooner, making them almost the ‘spine’ of the show. I therefore took any episode which featured Maul or Mandalore and strung those out throughout the show - generally splitting these arcs into individual episodes rather than presenting them aggregated (as fanedits have tended to do in the past). This way, Maul and Mandalore get to act as ever-present wildcard threats (kind of like Moff Gideon in the Mandalorian). This required minor trims in a few places so as to not break canon.
- I also wanted to allow Rex and his relationship with obedience and loyalty to be a plotline that developed across the show, but without drawing focus from what I want to keep as our main characters and storylines. I achieved this by having a single ‘Rex explores loyalty’ episode each season, which balances nicely. In the second season, that episode is a special anthology episode combining the Rex/Clone parts of the episodes Hidden Enemy, Gregor (from Droids in the Void), and Deserter.
- I am also preserving the secret of Sidious’ identity until Revenge of the Sith, for those who want to watch this in chronological order or with a first-time viewer.
- Since the original show (especially earlier on) was very much an anthology show, episodes often had little bearing on one another, main characters often didn’t appear for a few episodes at a time, and the show had quite arbitrarily allocated premieres or finales. I’ve tried to remedy this a little. I’ve cut the seasons into more thematic chunks, worked on narrative flow and character balance between episodes, and I’ve chosen premieres and finales which more punctuate the theme of the season, or particularly test our main characters.
- Many episodes and arcs (more detail below) are recontextualised or otherwise improved from their original presentation, both to tighten their own content and to enhance the overall plot of the show. In a few cases I have completely changed the narrative for quality - see s02e03, s03e01, and s04e02 for the most radical changes.
- And naturally, each episode features heavy trims for pacing, removing filler or cringe, misplaced humour or unnecessary action. It's a lot more enjoyable throughout.
Cuts and Additions:
PRELUDE & PROLOGUE (Optional)
- s01e00 - DARK FORCE RISING (51:05) is a prelude to this series which covers the Anakin and Dooku/Ventress/Grievous plots from the start of the Tartakovsky microseries up to the point where Anakin gets knighted, reordering it into a single narrative. It brings the characterisation far closer to TCW, so the episode can act as a bridge between Attack of the Clones and The Clone Wars.
- s01e00b - LIFE AND DEATH (20:30) is Ahsoka's prologue, a flashback to her birth and discovery by the Jedi, taken from the Tales of the Jedi miniseries.
SEASON ONE: “Conflicts erupt in the early days of the Clone Wars.” (5h37m, cutting ~6h) begins the relationship between Anakin and Ahsoka, shows the initial separatist strikes, establishes our key villains, starts to explore Clone culture and Republic overreach, and has the triggering events behind our rolling plotlines:
- s01e01 - THE NEW PADAWAN (21:02) covers the Christophsis arc from the original Clone Wars movie plus the Ventress plot from Hidden Enemy. It’s now one tight episode that gets us through the key parts quickly, cleanly, and far less painfully, serving as an alternative (and more enjoyable) introduction to The Clone Wars.
- s01e02 - MALEVOLENCE (29:10) heavily interleaves the Plo Koon rescue from Rising Malevolence and the bomber strike from Shadow of Malevolence into one more compelling narrative focusing on Ahsoka’s character and Anakin’s training, and only a couple of scenes from Destroy Malevolence are maintained as a conclusion.
- s01e03 - THE DUCHESS OF MANDALORE (36:42) covers The Mandalore Plot and Voyage of Temptation, removing Obi-Wan on the Bond-villain conveyor belt (clip here), adding a scene to explain Ahsoka’s occasional future absences, and cutting the below-decks mystery on the Coronet and the mini-spiders (whilst maintaining the horror element and an assassin spider droid).
- s01e04 - ASSASSIN (21:59) is Cloak of Darkness with slightly tighter focus and character work.
- s01e05 - THE 501st LEGION (46:06) gives us a little mid-season peak, concluding a few threads with the focus that I’ve now set up in my first five episodes. It aggregates the whole Domino Squad arc together, tightening Rookies, and cutting quite a lot from Clone Cadets to make this full story have a natural three-act structure, having the combat test end in failiure and their punishment being the Rishi outpost, allowing their victory there and on Kamino in the content from ARC Troopers to be what makes them members of the 501st.
- s01e06 - RESISTANCE ON RYLOTH (38:04) cuts Storm Over Ryloth and Liberty on Ryloth into a single narrative where Anakin and Ahsoka (in her first command) try to break the blockade above Ryloth while Mace Windu on the ground tries to enlist Cham Syndulla and deals with Ryloth’s politics.
- s01e07 - THE DEATH WATCH (24:34) is the original Duchess of Mandalore episode with only a couple of light trims and one scene moved, with the addition of a scene originally from the Holocron arc disciplining Ahsoka for her disobedience at Ryloth and effectively explaining her absence until the finale.
- s01e08 - CHILDREN OF NIGHT (52:13) cuts the whole Nightsisters arc into one, removing the invisible Dooku fight (which is good but returns us to the status quo), reduces the recruitment trial to focus just on Savage and Feral, and removes Anakin and Obi-Wan visiting the Nightbrothers (a redundant scene). (A future extended version will reinstate the invisible Dooku fight for those who miss it.)
- s01e09 - A STRIKE AT THE HEART (Part 1) (35:12) borrows Smudger9’s idea to turn Hostage Crisis into a distraction to enable the Holocron Heist.
- s01e10 - THE FUTURE OF THE FORCE (Part 2) (37:10) covers Cargo of Doom and Children of the Force, removing Ropal and the concept of the ‘Kyber Crystal’, and adds a scene from Lightsaber Lost to bring Ahsoka’s season one arc to a solid conclusion and emphasise a major aspect of her character that’s developed in future media.
SEASON TWO: “The Clone Wars spread chaos and instability across the galaxy.” (5h37m, cutting ~4.5h) showcases Ahsoka’s growth and maturity, explores more of the galaxy’s scum and villainy, shows the cost of the war to the ‘little guy’, and continues our ongoing plotlines:
- s02e01 - SEVEN WARRIORS (24:00) is Bounty Hunters pretty much untouched.
- s02e02 - MASSACRE (34:17) recontextualises a tightened Lair of Grievous as being triggered by Ventress leaking its’ location to the Jedi, leading into Massacre which is now more personal for Grievous and more of a source of guilt for Ventress. Old Dahka no longer appears, making Talzin the resurrector.
- s02e03 - CORRUPTION ON MANDALORE (26:30) intercuts Corruption and The Academy into an all new, far tighter single narrative, bringing Ahsoka and Padmé to Mandalore at the same time, cutting out the poisoned drinks subplot, making everyone’s decisions sensible, and minimising the annoying kids.
- s02e04 - LIKE FATHER, LIKE CLONE (47:34) tightens the Boba Fett trilogy of episodes heavily for pacing and focus, removing the skeet scene, lots of R2’s antics, and the traitor Castas subplot.
- s02e05 - TALES OF THE LOST CLONES (45:16) is an anthology episode focusing on clone individuality, and highlighting Captain Rex. It aggregates the traitor clone plot from Hidden Enemy, the Gregor plot (with a lot less cringe) from Missing in Action, and the Cut Lawquane plot from The Deserter.
- s02e06 - ATTACHMENTS (25:35) is Jedi Crash tightened up. (It’s a less important episode but is placed here to balance out the season.)
- s02e07 - MONSTERS (34:36) aggregates Brothers and Revenge, getting us to and through Lotho Minor quicker, with a light trim to Ventress to allow this to be placed here in the chronology.
- s02e08 - SHADOW OF GEONOSIS (Part 1) (23:27) is Senate Spy, reducing Clovis’ creepiness and a little of Anakin’s more overt behaviour.
- s02e09 - ASSAULT ON GEONOSIS (Part 2) (37:31) aggregates Landing on Point Rain and Weapons Factory, trimming the battle for the sake of pacing and letting Ahsoka and Barriss’ fates linger a little longer. (A future extended version will reinstate some of Anakin’s and Ki-Adi-Mundi’s action scenes for those who miss them.)
- s02e10 - TERROR OF GEONOSIS (Part 3) (40:00) interleaves Legacy of Terror and Brain Invaders into a single narrative emphasising the mystery and horror of both stories (borrowing some of Smudger9’s ideas), and makes some trims for focus.
INTERLUDE
- s03e00 - DREAMS OF DESTINY (22:42) tells a little story highlighting Ahsoka’s growth and relationships so far, using the episode Practice Makes Perfect from Tales of the Jedi as a framing device to add a few Ahsoka-focused Forces of Destiny shorts.
SEASON THREE: “Shades of grey emerge as the Clone Wars grow more complex.” (6h14m, cutting ~2h) focuses on a more competent Ahsoka now learning more of the complexities of war, shows all our main characters facing more complex situations and being forced into compromises, and has our running plotlines escalate and finally draw together:
- s03e01 - THE POLITICS OF WAR (32:03) is an all-new narrative, aggregating and restructuring the peace discussions with Mina Bonteri and the clone loan from Heroes on Both Sides and Pursuit of Peace, using some scenes from Senate Murders (but not the plot about Onaconda’s murder).
- s03e02 - THE DEATH OF OBI-WAN KENOBI (55:56) streamlines the Rako Hardeen arc, removing the first time (of two) where Obi-Wan is kicked off the ship, the final coda where Anakin defends Palpatine against Dooku, and The Box storyline, keeping the focus on Obi-Wan working with the criminals and Anakin’s emotional reaction to the events. (A future extended version will reinstate the content from The Box for those who miss it.)
- s03e03 - PIRATES OF THE OUTER RIM (24:13) is Revival pretty much untouched.
- s03e04 - TEMPTATIONS (24:53) is A Friend in Need pretty much untouched.
- s03e05 - SLAVES OF ZYGERRIA (44:34) is the second two episodes of the Zygerria slavery arc pretty much untouched (you don’t really need the first).
- s03e06 - THE SHADOW COLLECTIVE (24:48) is Eminence pretty much untouched.
- s03e07 - HUNTED (45:28) is the Trandoshan arc pretty much untouched.
- s03e08 - DISSENT ON UMBARA (52:12) streamlines the Umbara arc, making Krell more of a hardliner and less of a cackling villain (though preserving his core motivations), and trimming a lot from the first episode in the arc to keep the focus on the Clones’ reaction to Krell’s orders. (A future extended version will reinstate some of the earlier combat scenes for those who miss them.)
- s03e09 - REBELS OF ONDERON (Part 1) (32:56) transitions the training in A War on Two Fronts directly into their first insurgent actions in the city in Front Runners, removing a couple of unnecessary combat scenes, focusing on the emotional stories of the rebels.
- s03e10 - KINGS OF ONDERON (Part 2) (36:35) has the rebels flee the city immediately after freeing Dendup in The Soft War, pursued aggressively by Rash, and skipping Hondo’s inclusion in the battle from Tipping Points, keeping the focus on our rebels and keeping the jeopardy high and the action more tense.
SEASON FOUR: “Conspiracies abound as the Clone Wars spin out of control.” (6h48m, cutting ~2h) focuses on unexpected events, like the Mauldalore plotline and the core mysteries of the war, and will be a journey into darkness for many of our main characters:
- s04e01 - THE OLD WAYS OF MANDALORE (24:54) is Shades of Reason pretty much untouched.
- s04e02 - THE LIVING FORCE (31:07) is the Mortis arc heavily restructured and cut, turned into essentially an extended, shared, Dagobah cave dream sequence, where everything is a much less explicit and much more metaphorical Force vision, and Qui-Gon’s presence is enhanced.
- s04e03 - THE ENEMY WITHIN (Part 1) (45:27) is the first two episodes of the Ahsoka’s Fall arc, with one minor trim.
- s04e04 - THE FORSAKEN (Part 2) (44:40) is the final two episodes of the Ahsoka’s Fall arc, with a few minor trims.
- s04e05 - DELIVERANCE (24:34) is The Lawless with only the explicit reference to Sidious’ identity removed.
- s04e06 - THE HAND OF GREED (01:07:17) is the Scipio arc lightly trimmed, using the ‘Ahsoka’s Decision’ fan scene from the unfinished Utapau arc as a way to lightly imply his jealousy here could be linked to the loss of Ahsoka.
- s04e07 - THE RENEGADE (53:41) is the Order 66 arc with diversions removed, and the focus kept on Fives’ perspective so the mystery is preserved for the audience as he investigates.
- s04e08 - THE LEGACY OF SIFO-DYAS (24:15) is The Lost One, pretty much untouched.
- s04e09 - SON OF DATHOMIR (40:57) is the canonical comic story Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir turned into a viewable audio comic (with full voice acting and sound effects) by Audio Comics / The Lore Master on Youtube.
- s04e10 - THE COSMIC FORCE (50:51) is the Yoda’s quest arc, restructured to make most of his journeys part of the Dagobah cave vision.
SEASON FIVE: “Darkness falls on the Galaxy in the final days of the Clone Wars.” (5h22m including RotS, 3h02m without, cutting ~2h) will focus on the very final days of the war, and wrap up all of the remaining dangling threads:
- s05e01 - A NEW DAWN (01:01:52) is the Martez Sisters arc, cutting the droid action scene and the redundant escape and recapture, and slightly tightening the sisters, keeping the focus on the emotional beats and Ahsoka’s growth.
- s05e02 - THE SIEGE OF MANDALORE (34:24) is Old Friends Not Forgotten, opening on the Anakin-Padmé scene from A Distant Echo (from the Bad Batch arc) and ending on the former opening scene from The Phantom Apprentice (which naturally followed from this episode’s content).
- s05e03 - THE MASTER PLAN (24:56) is The Phantom Apprentice, without its original opening scene (now used in my previous episode).
- s05e04 - LOYALTY AND FATE (47:47) is Shattered and Victory and Death, back to back, and removing an odd reference to clones knowing of “Darth Sidious”.
EPILOGUE & CODA
- s05e05 - RESOLVE (14:06) is Ahsoka's epilogue, the Tales of the Jedi episode Resolve (also erroneously called Coda in some places), pretty much untouched.
- s05e06 - OLD WOUNDS (13:59) is the show's coda, using content taken from the Star Wars Rebels episode Twin Suns, with the Rebels-based content stripped out, to act here as closure for the Maul/Obi-Wan plotline if you’re not planning to watch Rebels.
- s01e00 - DARK FORCE RISING (51:05) is a prelude to this series which covers the Anakin and Dooku/Ventress/Grievous plots from the start of the Tartakovsky microseries up to the point where Anakin gets knighted, reordering it into a single narrative. It brings the characterisation far closer to TCW, so the episode can act as a bridge between Attack of the Clones and The Clone Wars.
- s01e00b - LIFE AND DEATH (20:30) is Ahsoka's prologue, a flashback to her birth and discovery by the Jedi, taken from the Tales of the Jedi miniseries.
SEASON ONE: “Conflicts erupt in the early days of the Clone Wars.” (5h37m, cutting ~6h) begins the relationship between Anakin and Ahsoka, shows the initial separatist strikes, establishes our key villains, starts to explore Clone culture and Republic overreach, and has the triggering events behind our rolling plotlines:
- s01e01 - THE NEW PADAWAN (21:02) covers the Christophsis arc from the original Clone Wars movie plus the Ventress plot from Hidden Enemy. It’s now one tight episode that gets us through the key parts quickly, cleanly, and far less painfully, serving as an alternative (and more enjoyable) introduction to The Clone Wars.
- s01e02 - MALEVOLENCE (29:10) heavily interleaves the Plo Koon rescue from Rising Malevolence and the bomber strike from Shadow of Malevolence into one more compelling narrative focusing on Ahsoka’s character and Anakin’s training, and only a couple of scenes from Destroy Malevolence are maintained as a conclusion.
- s01e03 - THE DUCHESS OF MANDALORE (36:42) covers The Mandalore Plot and Voyage of Temptation, removing Obi-Wan on the Bond-villain conveyor belt (clip here), adding a scene to explain Ahsoka’s occasional future absences, and cutting the below-decks mystery on the Coronet and the mini-spiders (whilst maintaining the horror element and an assassin spider droid).
- s01e04 - ASSASSIN (21:59) is Cloak of Darkness with slightly tighter focus and character work.
- s01e05 - THE 501st LEGION (46:06) gives us a little mid-season peak, concluding a few threads with the focus that I’ve now set up in my first five episodes. It aggregates the whole Domino Squad arc together, tightening Rookies, and cutting quite a lot from Clone Cadets to make this full story have a natural three-act structure, having the combat test end in failiure and their punishment being the Rishi outpost, allowing their victory there and on Kamino in the content from ARC Troopers to be what makes them members of the 501st.
- s01e06 - RESISTANCE ON RYLOTH (38:04) cuts Storm Over Ryloth and Liberty on Ryloth into a single narrative where Anakin and Ahsoka (in her first command) try to break the blockade above Ryloth while Mace Windu on the ground tries to enlist Cham Syndulla and deals with Ryloth’s politics.
- s01e07 - THE DEATH WATCH (24:34) is the original Duchess of Mandalore episode with only a couple of light trims and one scene moved, with the addition of a scene originally from the Holocron arc disciplining Ahsoka for her disobedience at Ryloth and effectively explaining her absence until the finale.
- s01e08 - CHILDREN OF NIGHT (52:13) cuts the whole Nightsisters arc into one, removing the invisible Dooku fight (which is good but returns us to the status quo), reduces the recruitment trial to focus just on Savage and Feral, and removes Anakin and Obi-Wan visiting the Nightbrothers (a redundant scene). (A future extended version will reinstate the invisible Dooku fight for those who miss it.)
- s01e09 - A STRIKE AT THE HEART (Part 1) (35:12) borrows Smudger9’s idea to turn Hostage Crisis into a distraction to enable the Holocron Heist.
- s01e10 - THE FUTURE OF THE FORCE (Part 2) (37:10) covers Cargo of Doom and Children of the Force, removing Ropal and the concept of the ‘Kyber Crystal’, and adds a scene from Lightsaber Lost to bring Ahsoka’s season one arc to a solid conclusion and emphasise a major aspect of her character that’s developed in future media.
SEASON TWO: “The Clone Wars spread chaos and instability across the galaxy.” (5h37m, cutting ~4.5h) showcases Ahsoka’s growth and maturity, explores more of the galaxy’s scum and villainy, shows the cost of the war to the ‘little guy’, and continues our ongoing plotlines:
- s02e01 - SEVEN WARRIORS (24:00) is Bounty Hunters pretty much untouched.
- s02e02 - MASSACRE (34:17) recontextualises a tightened Lair of Grievous as being triggered by Ventress leaking its’ location to the Jedi, leading into Massacre which is now more personal for Grievous and more of a source of guilt for Ventress. Old Dahka no longer appears, making Talzin the resurrector.
- s02e03 - CORRUPTION ON MANDALORE (26:30) intercuts Corruption and The Academy into an all new, far tighter single narrative, bringing Ahsoka and Padmé to Mandalore at the same time, cutting out the poisoned drinks subplot, making everyone’s decisions sensible, and minimising the annoying kids.
- s02e04 - LIKE FATHER, LIKE CLONE (47:34) tightens the Boba Fett trilogy of episodes heavily for pacing and focus, removing the skeet scene, lots of R2’s antics, and the traitor Castas subplot.
- s02e05 - TALES OF THE LOST CLONES (45:16) is an anthology episode focusing on clone individuality, and highlighting Captain Rex. It aggregates the traitor clone plot from Hidden Enemy, the Gregor plot (with a lot less cringe) from Missing in Action, and the Cut Lawquane plot from The Deserter.
- s02e06 - ATTACHMENTS (25:35) is Jedi Crash tightened up. (It’s a less important episode but is placed here to balance out the season.)
- s02e07 - MONSTERS (34:36) aggregates Brothers and Revenge, getting us to and through Lotho Minor quicker, with a light trim to Ventress to allow this to be placed here in the chronology.
- s02e08 - SHADOW OF GEONOSIS (Part 1) (23:27) is Senate Spy, reducing Clovis’ creepiness and a little of Anakin’s more overt behaviour.
- s02e09 - ASSAULT ON GEONOSIS (Part 2) (37:31) aggregates Landing on Point Rain and Weapons Factory, trimming the battle for the sake of pacing and letting Ahsoka and Barriss’ fates linger a little longer. (A future extended version will reinstate some of Anakin’s and Ki-Adi-Mundi’s action scenes for those who miss them.)
- s02e10 - TERROR OF GEONOSIS (Part 3) (40:00) interleaves Legacy of Terror and Brain Invaders into a single narrative emphasising the mystery and horror of both stories (borrowing some of Smudger9’s ideas), and makes some trims for focus.
INTERLUDE
- s03e00 - DREAMS OF DESTINY (22:42) tells a little story highlighting Ahsoka’s growth and relationships so far, using the episode Practice Makes Perfect from Tales of the Jedi as a framing device to add a few Ahsoka-focused Forces of Destiny shorts.
SEASON THREE: “Shades of grey emerge as the Clone Wars grow more complex.” (6h14m, cutting ~2h) focuses on a more competent Ahsoka now learning more of the complexities of war, shows all our main characters facing more complex situations and being forced into compromises, and has our running plotlines escalate and finally draw together:
- s03e01 - THE POLITICS OF WAR (32:03) is an all-new narrative, aggregating and restructuring the peace discussions with Mina Bonteri and the clone loan from Heroes on Both Sides and Pursuit of Peace, using some scenes from Senate Murders (but not the plot about Onaconda’s murder).
- s03e02 - THE DEATH OF OBI-WAN KENOBI (55:56) streamlines the Rako Hardeen arc, removing the first time (of two) where Obi-Wan is kicked off the ship, the final coda where Anakin defends Palpatine against Dooku, and The Box storyline, keeping the focus on Obi-Wan working with the criminals and Anakin’s emotional reaction to the events. (A future extended version will reinstate the content from The Box for those who miss it.)
- s03e03 - PIRATES OF THE OUTER RIM (24:13) is Revival pretty much untouched.
- s03e04 - TEMPTATIONS (24:53) is A Friend in Need pretty much untouched.
- s03e05 - SLAVES OF ZYGERRIA (44:34) is the second two episodes of the Zygerria slavery arc pretty much untouched (you don’t really need the first).
- s03e06 - THE SHADOW COLLECTIVE (24:48) is Eminence pretty much untouched.
- s03e07 - HUNTED (45:28) is the Trandoshan arc pretty much untouched.
- s03e08 - DISSENT ON UMBARA (52:12) streamlines the Umbara arc, making Krell more of a hardliner and less of a cackling villain (though preserving his core motivations), and trimming a lot from the first episode in the arc to keep the focus on the Clones’ reaction to Krell’s orders. (A future extended version will reinstate some of the earlier combat scenes for those who miss them.)
- s03e09 - REBELS OF ONDERON (Part 1) (32:56) transitions the training in A War on Two Fronts directly into their first insurgent actions in the city in Front Runners, removing a couple of unnecessary combat scenes, focusing on the emotional stories of the rebels.
- s03e10 - KINGS OF ONDERON (Part 2) (36:35) has the rebels flee the city immediately after freeing Dendup in The Soft War, pursued aggressively by Rash, and skipping Hondo’s inclusion in the battle from Tipping Points, keeping the focus on our rebels and keeping the jeopardy high and the action more tense.
SEASON FOUR: “Conspiracies abound as the Clone Wars spin out of control.” (6h48m, cutting ~2h) focuses on unexpected events, like the Mauldalore plotline and the core mysteries of the war, and will be a journey into darkness for many of our main characters:
- s04e01 - THE OLD WAYS OF MANDALORE (24:54) is Shades of Reason pretty much untouched.
- s04e02 - THE LIVING FORCE (31:07) is the Mortis arc heavily restructured and cut, turned into essentially an extended, shared, Dagobah cave dream sequence, where everything is a much less explicit and much more metaphorical Force vision, and Qui-Gon’s presence is enhanced.
- s04e03 - THE ENEMY WITHIN (Part 1) (45:27) is the first two episodes of the Ahsoka’s Fall arc, with one minor trim.
- s04e04 - THE FORSAKEN (Part 2) (44:40) is the final two episodes of the Ahsoka’s Fall arc, with a few minor trims.
- s04e05 - DELIVERANCE (24:34) is The Lawless with only the explicit reference to Sidious’ identity removed.
- s04e06 - THE HAND OF GREED (01:07:17) is the Scipio arc lightly trimmed, using the ‘Ahsoka’s Decision’ fan scene from the unfinished Utapau arc as a way to lightly imply his jealousy here could be linked to the loss of Ahsoka.
- s04e07 - THE RENEGADE (53:41) is the Order 66 arc with diversions removed, and the focus kept on Fives’ perspective so the mystery is preserved for the audience as he investigates.
- s04e08 - THE LEGACY OF SIFO-DYAS (24:15) is The Lost One, pretty much untouched.
- s04e09 - SON OF DATHOMIR (40:57) is the canonical comic story Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir turned into a viewable audio comic (with full voice acting and sound effects) by Audio Comics / The Lore Master on Youtube.
- s04e10 - THE COSMIC FORCE (50:51) is the Yoda’s quest arc, restructured to make most of his journeys part of the Dagobah cave vision.
SEASON FIVE: “Darkness falls on the Galaxy in the final days of the Clone Wars.” (5h22m including RotS, 3h02m without, cutting ~2h) will focus on the very final days of the war, and wrap up all of the remaining dangling threads:
- s05e01 - A NEW DAWN (01:01:52) is the Martez Sisters arc, cutting the droid action scene and the redundant escape and recapture, and slightly tightening the sisters, keeping the focus on the emotional beats and Ahsoka’s growth.
- s05e02 - THE SIEGE OF MANDALORE (34:24) is Old Friends Not Forgotten, opening on the Anakin-Padmé scene from A Distant Echo (from the Bad Batch arc) and ending on the former opening scene from The Phantom Apprentice (which naturally followed from this episode’s content).
- s05e03 - THE MASTER PLAN (24:56) is The Phantom Apprentice, without its original opening scene (now used in my previous episode).
- s05e04 - LOYALTY AND FATE (47:47) is Shattered and Victory and Death, back to back, and removing an odd reference to clones knowing of “Darth Sidious”.
EPILOGUE & CODA
- s05e05 - RESOLVE (14:06) is Ahsoka's epilogue, the Tales of the Jedi episode Resolve (also erroneously called Coda in some places), pretty much untouched.
- s05e06 - OLD WOUNDS (13:59) is the show's coda, using content taken from the Star Wars Rebels episode Twin Suns, with the Rebels-based content stripped out, to act here as closure for the Maul/Obi-Wan plotline if you’re not planning to watch Rebels.
User reviews
13 reviews
Overall rating
9.9
Audio/Video Quality
9.9(13)
Audio Editing
9.7(13)
Visual Editing
9.9(13)
Narrative
9.9(13)
Enjoyment
10.0(13)
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
This review was a long time coming. I think I finished watching this edit a bit over a year ago. Visual and audio quality appear nearly flawless. Others pointed out some issues, but I personally was unable to notice anything personally. Heck, to edit this volume of material and have it mostly accurate is an incomprehensible achievement in of itself.
This Clone Wars project took a monumental effort over the course of several years with ongoing continuous improvement editing an entire TV series - this requires much more blood, sweat, and tears compared to an edit of a single movie. Besides the Clone Wars, the edit includes the Ahsoka material from Tales of the Jedi and a portion of the Tartakovsky Clone Wars where Anakin is knighted.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed nearly all of the material (I had a few issues, but there is no such thing as 100% agreement - expanded upon in the next paragraph). The editor accomplished removing nearly all of the excessively childish material that dragged down the show.
I liked the spreadsheet the editor utilizes to organize all the content of the edit. Every single episode will have a corresponding link to a detailed description of the edit to the individual episode. The editor provides recommendations in the spreadsheet for which episodes to watch depending on what you are looking for. That makes it easy to skip episodes you have no interest in. In that regard, you can make the Clone Wars narrative effectively perfect for your own viewing pleasure. Unfortunately, some of the weaker episodes still need to be viewed as they intertwine with the rest of the material, but the editor does a fine job of minimizing the weakness of those episodes.
I want to thank the editor for sharing this with me. It provided great pleasure and I strongly recommend this to other [animated] Star Wars fans as well. An absolute must-watch over the original without question.
Job well done here.
This Clone Wars project took a monumental effort over the course of several years with ongoing continuous improvement editing an entire TV series - this requires much more blood, sweat, and tears compared to an edit of a single movie. Besides the Clone Wars, the edit includes the Ahsoka material from Tales of the Jedi and a portion of the Tartakovsky Clone Wars where Anakin is knighted.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed nearly all of the material (I had a few issues, but there is no such thing as 100% agreement - expanded upon in the next paragraph). The editor accomplished removing nearly all of the excessively childish material that dragged down the show.
I liked the spreadsheet the editor utilizes to organize all the content of the edit. Every single episode will have a corresponding link to a detailed description of the edit to the individual episode. The editor provides recommendations in the spreadsheet for which episodes to watch depending on what you are looking for. That makes it easy to skip episodes you have no interest in. In that regard, you can make the Clone Wars narrative effectively perfect for your own viewing pleasure. Unfortunately, some of the weaker episodes still need to be viewed as they intertwine with the rest of the material, but the editor does a fine job of minimizing the weakness of those episodes.
I want to thank the editor for sharing this with me. It provided great pleasure and I strongly recommend this to other [animated] Star Wars fans as well. An absolute must-watch over the original without question.
Job well done here.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
H
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
Now, this is far from your typical fanedit. We have here an incredibly intricate, multifaceted, living project which allows the viewer total latitude as to what is going to be seen, how, and when.
I myself have to say this very latitude is worth an incredible amount, as I myself am forever attached to smudger9’s five magnificent film edits, and so then, without missing a beat, pick up on season 3.
Clone Wars is a flawed masterpiece of storytelling (the best kind?), making sure we are swept along its arc dutifully. Eddie has here captured the essence of it: no “news on the March” narration, but instead a very compelling opening, musical accompaniment setting the stage. This is the Way.
Clone Wars had an assumed tendency to silliness, jettisoned here. We have instead a lean, hard vision, and while we have those battle droids still to contend with (“uh…sir…”) and some dialogue that’s a real scream (“I sense Dooku’s dirty hand in this!” - Padme), it’s all part of the journey.
From seasons 3 to 5 here, I’m not the biggest on the banking clan and “politics of war” eps, but the beauty is being able to create your own. Eddie has fashioned it so no matter your path, you’ll still end up with your breath stolen away at that finale. It’s as good as ever (*Eddie, any way you could cut to a reverent black for 10 seconds or so after that final shot before the credits?)
One of the newest pleasures of fan editing I have encountered. Bravo and thanks, indeed, Eddie, for sharing the journey. My daughter and I just finished the finale and she was absolutely blown away. Star Wars is inevitably part of her life, and your presentation of this story is one that should be introduced to everyone this new generation.
I myself have to say this very latitude is worth an incredible amount, as I myself am forever attached to smudger9’s five magnificent film edits, and so then, without missing a beat, pick up on season 3.
Clone Wars is a flawed masterpiece of storytelling (the best kind?), making sure we are swept along its arc dutifully. Eddie has here captured the essence of it: no “news on the March” narration, but instead a very compelling opening, musical accompaniment setting the stage. This is the Way.
Clone Wars had an assumed tendency to silliness, jettisoned here. We have instead a lean, hard vision, and while we have those battle droids still to contend with (“uh…sir…”) and some dialogue that’s a real scream (“I sense Dooku’s dirty hand in this!” - Padme), it’s all part of the journey.
From seasons 3 to 5 here, I’m not the biggest on the banking clan and “politics of war” eps, but the beauty is being able to create your own. Eddie has fashioned it so no matter your path, you’ll still end up with your breath stolen away at that finale. It’s as good as ever (*Eddie, any way you could cut to a reverent black for 10 seconds or so after that final shot before the credits?)
One of the newest pleasures of fan editing I have encountered. Bravo and thanks, indeed, Eddie, for sharing the journey. My daughter and I just finished the finale and she was absolutely blown away. Star Wars is inevitably part of her life, and your presentation of this story is one that should be introduced to everyone this new generation.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
D
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
I tried and failed to watch the clone wars a couple of times, it was just awkward and kind of boring for me.
This edit not only made it easier to watch clone wars but it did it so well, by the end I have gained so much. A far better understanding and appreciation for Anakin and a massive amount of love for Ahsoka. I am really glad I got to see this.
I can't possibly comment on the ins and outs of the edit, since I have not seen the original past the first episode, but the spreadsheet and presentation is just awesome. The music is by far a very big cherry on the cake. The new music really does set the mood far better than the original theme tune for the clone wars.
I can't express my gratitude enough.
I only have one gripe. The dialogue is hard to understand in noisy scenes, it really does need subtitles if humanly possible.
This edit not only made it easier to watch clone wars but it did it so well, by the end I have gained so much. A far better understanding and appreciation for Anakin and a massive amount of love for Ahsoka. I am really glad I got to see this.
I can't possibly comment on the ins and outs of the edit, since I have not seen the original past the first episode, but the spreadsheet and presentation is just awesome. The music is by far a very big cherry on the cake. The new music really does set the mood far better than the original theme tune for the clone wars.
I can't express my gratitude enough.
I only have one gripe. The dialogue is hard to understand in noisy scenes, it really does need subtitles if humanly possible.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
T
(Updated: November 20, 2023)
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
I haven't watched the Clone Wars in years so I'm coming at this with more or less fresh eyes. I've only watched season 1 so far, but it's fabulous! Removing the cheesy scenes and episodes, and then restructuring it makes it so enjoyable! And moving some of the major storylines earlier and then having the themes run through the whole series is really really good. I can't imagine how much organizing it took to restructure it to this level (I'm picturing a wall full of red thread and sticky notes, like a crime board!). Thank you for all your hard work, and I'm looking forward to watching the rest!
EDITED TO ADD: I just finished all the seasons and this is phenomenal! The editor took away all the silly cheesy, annoying things (but not all the humour) and turned this into an absolute epic. The build up to the inevitable end was just heart-breaking, but in a stunningly good way.
Yes, there were some scenes and dialogue (especially in the earlier) episodes that were still kind of painful, but they were shorter and were the fault of the original material, not the editing. I also loved the new introductory and closing music and the artwork at the end. Overall, this was much more adult storytelling and...just better in every way.
This will be my go-to version forever more! Thank you for all your hard work!
EDITED TO ADD: I just finished all the seasons and this is phenomenal! The editor took away all the silly cheesy, annoying things (but not all the humour) and turned this into an absolute epic. The build up to the inevitable end was just heart-breaking, but in a stunningly good way.
Yes, there were some scenes and dialogue (especially in the earlier) episodes that were still kind of painful, but they were shorter and were the fault of the original material, not the editing. I also loved the new introductory and closing music and the artwork at the end. Overall, this was much more adult storytelling and...just better in every way.
This will be my go-to version forever more! Thank you for all your hard work!
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
S
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
(Note: Only fully watched the 1st season, will update this review as I complete more seasons)
Audio/Video Quality (10/10) - Looked and sounded great, had the Blu-Ray quality in here :)
Visual & Audio Editing (10/10) - Editing was top tier :)
Narrative (10/10) - Story became more focused, less cringe, and the most best parts of the original were enhanced in this edit :)
Enjoyment (10/10) - Enjoyed this edit quite a lot, way more then the original tv show.
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I recommend this fan edit :)
Thank you for this fan edit!
-------------------------------------------------------------
Audio/Video Quality (10/10) - Looked and sounded great, had the Blu-Ray quality in here :)
Visual & Audio Editing (10/10) - Editing was top tier :)
Narrative (10/10) - Story became more focused, less cringe, and the most best parts of the original were enhanced in this edit :)
Enjoyment (10/10) - Enjoyed this edit quite a lot, way more then the original tv show.
-------------------------------------------------------------
I recommend this fan edit :)
Thank you for this fan edit!
-------------------------------------------------------------
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
O