The Clone Wars watch: Starting from the beginning

Kicking off the Star Wars: The Clone Wars watch with the first chronological episode. We see an impressive, but reckless side to Anakin.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 7 is set to premiere this week. That’s good for those who have watched The Clone Wars as they get to continue a journey with characters they have come to love dearly.

Then there is someone like me. I’ve seen episodes of The Clone Wars. I have never finished the series. So I decided while everyone else is watching Season 7, I’m going to be working through The Clone Wars from the beginning.

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But I’m doing so chronologically. I’m going to watch the episodes based on when they occurred in the Star Wars timeline not when they first appeared on air.

That makes the first episode Season 2, Episode 16 ‘Cat and Mouse.’

I loved this episode. I’ve seen it before — I have not seen all TCW episodes — but I tried watching it as though I was seeing the series for the first time. What I really enjoyed about ‘Cat and Mouse’ is it shows so much of the dynamic between Anakin and Obi-Wan. It also shows so much about Anakin, almost more than we actually get about him from the movies.

Of course, I benefit from hindsight having seen the prequels and a number of TCW episodes.

This episode sees Obi-Wan and Anakin tasked with bringing supplies to Christophsis, a planet under Separatist control. Although, the Separatists have a blockade led by Admiral Trench and they do not want to let the Republic through.

Initially, Anakin wants to fight Trench, but Obi-Wan calls him off to regroup. He then shows his padawan a ship with a cloaking feature that would allow Anakin to sneak past the blockade and able to bring much-needed supplies down to the planet’s surface.

This is where we learn more about Anakin.

While he reluctantly listened to Obi-Wan, Anakin does wind up doing his own thing eventually. Even though Admiral Trench has experience in fighting ships with cloaking abilities, Anakin picked up on something Trench said in his open communication.

So his team figured out the Separatists were picking up the magnetic signature to get honing missiles to lock on to the ship. Anakin used that to his advantage by getting Trench’s ship to lower its shields in order to shoot the missiles and then Anakin guided his ship just above Trench’s so the missiles wrecked the Separatist ship instead.

It was an unorthodox move and against Obi-Wan’s wishes, but it showed so much of who Anakin was in that moment and it was a great way to kick off the series. Anakin trusted his instincts and was willing to take risks even if the odds were not in his favor. He’s the exact opposite of Obi-Wan at this point.

But it’s also important to note Anakin’s behavior. He’s reckless, inventive and wants to win at all costs. He doesn’t follow directions and has a hard time taking orders from those above him. Anakin thinks he knows better than others, but will say he does it for the sake of good.

Though there is a little ego involved.

What did you think of this episode?

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 7 premieres on Disney+ February 21.