The Clone Wars: 4 shockingly dark episodes aimed towards adults

Season 3 episode, “Pursuit of Peace” is substantially less action-packed than much of Clone Wars, instead of focusing on the nuances of manipulation and greed in politics.

The episode revolves around a bill meant to finance the production of more troops, which would undoubtedly escalate the war efforts. Bail Organa and Padme Amidala are staunchly against this bill, desiring to negotiate peace with the Separatists. As they begin to really support to oppose this bill, Palpatine undermines these efforts by orchestrating a terrorist attack in the capital, which crushes any hope for opposition to this bill within the senate.

This episode is a nice change of pace in the series, as we begin to dive into the reality of politics in wartime, along with the inherent challenges of bipartisanship within a senate body. Supporters to the bill include those who misguidedly believe soldiers are synonymous with the Republic strength, those who fear the Separatist, and of course, those who stand to profit from the War. The representatives of cloners from Kamino greatly support this bill, as they stand to make a great deal of money from more clone troopers. War profiteering is lightly touched on in The Last Jedi, but is frequently a driving plot point in episodes in The Clone Wars, drawing parallels to real-world war.

Of course, the climax of this episode is the terrorist attack orchestrated by Palpatine and Grievous in the capital, meant to inspire fear among policymakers, ensuring support for the bill. Like the prequel trilogy, this episode is driven behind the manipulation of Politics and senators by sinister forces and even delving into fear-mongering to manipulate political action.

This episode likely won’t resonate with most kids but is sure to hit home for mature audiences as they draw connections to real-world situations.