How to watch The Siege of Mandalore and Episode III in one sitting

If you watch the final arc of  Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Revenge of the Sith broken up in a certain order, it all fits together almost perfectly.

Many Star Wars fans knew going into The Siege of Mandalore there would be pain. So, so much pain. The story we got was both beautiful and tragic, ending on a broken Ahsoka Tano leaving her lightsaber behind for her former master to find long after she’d gone into hiding.

For most of Season 7, there were a lot of questions about where we actually were on the prequel-era timeline. A pregnant Padmé and Ahsoka’s near run-in with Anakin while leaving Coruscant didn’t clear up much of the confusion.

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But within the first episode of The Siege of Mandalore, we had our answer. A kidnapped chancellor could only mean one thing: the beginning of the end.

Throughout the final arc of The Clone Wars, it’s made very clear where each episode falls along the Revenge of the Sith timeline. By the middle of the first episode, Anakin and Obi-Wan are heading off to the Battle of Coruscant. By the end of the third, Order 66 is already underway.

So does this mean you can actually watch parts of Episode III, pause at certain points, and watch the same events unfold from the point of view of Ahsoka and Rex? It sure does!

If you have access to Disney+ and all the digital Star Wars wonders it has to offer, it’s easier than you might think to bounce back-and-forth between ROTS and Clone Wars at the appropriate time stamps. Especially thanks to the “continue watching” feature.

Twitter user @Starrapter put together a rundown of how you can turn these two separate experiences into one giant marathon of pain and sorrow from the comfort of your own home.

You’ll begin with Season 7, Episode 9. This is the episode of The Clone Wars where Anakin and Ahsoka reunite, he gives her lightsabers back, and he and Obi-Wan run off to save Palpatine while Ahsoka, Rex, and Bo-Katan take part of the army to invade Mandalore.

Once Ahsoka and Maul come face-to-face, you’ll jump over to Revenge of the Sith. Watch all the way through to 50:19 and pause.

Next, Season 7, Episode 10, which begins with a standoff between Maul and Ahsoka and ends with his chilling capture. In this episode we discover what ROTS has already shown us: Dooku is dead, Anakin is hanging out with Palps, and Obi-Wan is headed to Utapau.

After Maul is apprehended, you’ll head back to where you left off in ROTS and stop at 1:25:14.

After your second pause of the movie, you’ll watch Season 7, Episode 11. Starts with Maul being loaded onto a shuttle in his anti-Force-maniac box and ends with pain. Specifically, Ahsoka and Rex preparing to flee an entire star cruiser full of clones who want to kill them.

You’ll then watch ROTS up until 2:08:56.

Once you get there, you’ll watch Season 7, Episode 12 and witness the aftermath of Order 66 all over again, because, you know. Pain.

Head back and finish out ROTS, and you’re good to go. Except not really, because chances are (I have yet to test this hypothesis, but stay tuned), you’re not going to be OK after putting yourself through this experience.

Good luck!

Are you OK? We’re just checking. Star Wars hurts sometimes, but don’t worry. A new hope will rise again. Eventually.