It was always clear that Anakin would eventually fall to the Dark Side during the prequel movies, but before I was a Star Wars fan, the journey felt a bit rushed. After his infamous hatred of sand and his murder spree to kill an entire community of Sand People, I never connected with his character. Just like Anakin, no one in the Clone Army stood out as individuals, as people I would root for. It was not just the fact that they were mainly CGI carbon copies that stood in the way of forming a connection. So little time was spent with the clones, apart from Boba Fett, that we never got to know them. Subsequently, the impact of their betrayals never quite hit home.
My entire perspective on Revenge of the Sith, and Star Wars itself, shifted after I watched Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
I gained empathy for Anakin's character and I began to love the clones as I watched them grow over the course of the war. This movie would never feel the same again. Now, as we commemorate the 20th anniversary of Revenge of the Sith, The Clone Wars needs to become a part of the celebration.
One of the biggest ways The Clone Wars supplements Anakin's journey to the dark side is that it shows his distrust of the Jedi Council starting long before they denied him a council position.
Anakin may have had a rough start with the Jedi from the moment Qui-Gon Jinn brought him to the Council, but the movies show his true conflicts beginning when they deny him a role he feels he has earned.
The Clone Wars paints a different picture. We watch Anakin continually devise ambitious plans that defy direct orders. He places more importance on gaining victory than on playing by their rules. Anakin uses his emotions and connection to the Force to interrogate or intimidate anyone he thinks may have information he needs. The speed to which he falls into this pattern increases as the show continues, and ultimately, it becomes his first instinct. His displays of violence are tempered only by his relationships to those truly committed to the light side, such as Obi-Wan Kenobi and his padawan, Ahsoka Tano.
When Ahsoka is framed for the bombing of the Jedi Temple in Season 5, a permanent rift between Anakin and the Jedi Order develops. The council members turn their backs on Ahsoka, while Anakin does everything in his power to find the truth. In the end, though her name is eventually cleared, Ahsoka leaves the Order to sort through her own mixed feelings and loss of faith in the Jedi.
It is Anakin's crumbling trust in the ways of the Jedi that allows the Chancellor to influence him. Without people like Ahsoka in his life to guide him when he loses his way, Anakin becomes increasingly vulnerable to Palpatine’s manipulation. After Ahsoka leaves, Anakin maintains her lightsabers to the point that they change color to match his own saber’s blue hue. He is deeply hurt by Ahsoka’s departure, as well as confused with the actions of the Council. The effects of this dual betrayal have wide-reaching implications on his emotional state and connection to the light side. He is more focused than ever on his remaining attachments, particularly to Padme, which is an aspect of himself that was already frowned upon by the Jedi.
When The Clone Wars is viewed in tandem with the prequel movies, it becomes clearer why Anakin made the decisions that led to darkness. With this additional context, we can see that though emotions and attachments have helped guide his connection to the Light, they are also twisted by Palpatine to turn Anakin to the dark side. His mistrust in the Jedi Council is less of a one-time incident than a pattern of wariness that grows over the course of the war.
Anakin is not the only one whose journey becomes more complex. The clones in the prequel movies are mainly CGI elements without individual personalities. Watching The Clone Wars changes everything. Clones like Rex, Fives, and Echo all get their time in the spotlight. There are even brilliant episodes focused entirely on the clones as they assert their personhood, bravery, and intelligence.
As viewers watch their relationships with the Jedi form and strengthen over the course of the war, it is much easier to see how the Jedi would be unprepared for the Order 66 attack. Their connection to the Force allows them to anticipate danger, but it isn't infallible, especially if that attack is coming from someone who has been their friend and ally for years.
It is even more gut-wrenching to learn that Order 66 was carried out against the wills of many clones, using inhibitor chips that forced obedience. In this sense, the clones themselves were betrayed by their creators and their own bodies. When some of the clones discover this plot in Season 6, Palpatine suppresses the information to stop the knowledge from getting out, at the cost of clone lives.
Thanks to the sacrifice of that clone, some clones are able to remove their inhibitor chips and regain their freedom. For those clones, they were pitted against their brothers in order to protect the Jedi. Watching the heartbreaking attack at the end of Revenge Of The Sith feels very different with the knowledge that the clones were killing their friends and leaders against their will. When Yoda becomes aware of the overwhelming devastation, the audience feels his sorrow, too.
When Revenge of the Sith is partnered with The Clone Wars show, it becomes possible to find a balance between the joys and sorrows of this tumultuous period of time. The show expands on the journeys of a number of background characters who only get moments of screen time in the movie. It creates a framework to understand what these characters have been through during the war and why they make the choices they do. During the long war, we see the Jedi continue to lose their way and lose the faith of the communities they have sworn to protect. We watch a galaxy move closer and closer to the tipping point, a tinderbox upon which the Empire will ultimately thrive.