Warning: Full spoilers for “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” finale below.
The series finale of “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” left us in a dark place in a galaxy far, far away. But the episode is a clear sign that “Star Wars” — when in the right hands — can be told in any medium.
The finale was essential “Star Wars,” and it should be watched by every “Star Wars” fan out there.
The episode — titled “Victory and Death” — began where the previous episode (“Shattered”) left off, with Ahsoka and Captain Rex battling against clone troopers, who have been ordered to kill both of them. The two sneak their way through the ship. They constantly find struggles along the way with these troopers. At the same time, Darth Maul uses the Force to break out of the Republic cruiser, killing plenty of clone troopers in the process. In the end, both sides escape the ship, but it comes at a cost.
That’s largely what the “Clone Wars” series has been about. Acting a certain way even though it comes at a cost. The entire war has come at a cost. These clones may seem like carbon copies of each other. But they had real lives and stories. They felt emotions. They were more than just stormtrooper props. They were real people within the show.
The ending of this series underlines the harsh reality of the “Star Wars” franchise’s biggest moment, Order 66 and purge of the Jedi. It’s the moment where so many clone troopers died fighting the Jedi, and when the clones stopped being so empathetic to the Jedi cause. They were forced to kill their friends. They were forced to act out against those who led them.
But the fate of the clone troopers is not the most heartbreaking aspect of this episode. The final scene is what will tear you apart, especially if you’ve followed the “Clone Wars” story during its near 12-year, seven-season run.
We see Ahsoka Tano bury the dead clone troopers, some of whom we’ve known nearly the entire series. She stares at the helmets of the lost. You can feel her heart wrench from having to look at her fallen comrades. She drops her own lightsaber there, a hint to whoever finds that gravesite that she has perished with the ship.
Some time later, Darth Vader — now more machine than man, dressed in the full black suit — steps across the snow-covered ground of the grave site. He finds the lightsaber and recognizes it as the weapon of his former apprentice, Ahsoka Tano. He stares at the sky. A bird flies by. He doesn’t say a word. But viewers can feel the emotion going through his mind. Does he think Ahsoka died? Does he know she’s still out there? Was this the final straw that broke Anakin Skywalker into becoming the deadly Vader? He’s lost his wife in Padme, his best friend in Obi-Wan and now his little sister/apprentice Ahsoka. There’s not much more you can lose.
It’s one of the most heartbreaking moments in the “Star Wars” series, especially because we’ve seen Ahsoka and Anakin team up for seven seasons. He instructed her. He defended her. And now, at least it appears, he believes he killed her.
We know Ahsoka lives on. She makes a significant appearance in “Star Wars Rebels,” another animated show. And there are rumors she’ll appear in the second season of “The Mandalorian.”
But this ending to “The Clone Wars” is a dreadful reminder of how dark the “Star Wars” universe become as a result of the Clone Wars battles. A war hero in Anakin Skywalker fell, and a dark lord Darth Vader rose in his place. War generals were lost. Heroes were slaughtered. People died unknowingly.
And the galaxy became a dark, dark place.
It was odd for the finale to take us to such a dark place, given that “Clone Wars” has leaned into the comedy and bright side of things. It was, after all, a cartoon that aired on Cartoon Network for the majority of its run.
But the finale was as true to “Star Wars” as anything we’ve seen in a long time. It didn’t pull its punches. It provided a tragic, harrowing end to a massive war — one that set the universe into a dark era. We know a bit hope exists out there in the universe, of course. And we see that hopeful return with Luke Skywalker’s introduction down the road.
Every “Star Wars” fan should watch this finale as a painful yet powerful reminder of the downfall of Darth Vader, and a sign of how horrific the universe became before the Jedi returned and the balance was restored.