The Clone Wars Countdown, Essential Arcs // #11 – The Onderon Rebellion & The Gerrera’s

With the March 7th d-day looming for Netflix’s non-renewal of The Clone Wars and I continue my countdown of the most essential story arcs in the series with #11, I am reminded why I fell in love with TCW in the first place and how it played a huge part in renewing my love for Star Wars in general. This arc also provided us with a TON of huge story and plot points moving forward, even though we didn’t realize it at the time. So let me introduce you to

#11 // The Onderon Rebellion and the Gerrara’s

Season 5, episode 2 — A War On Two Fronts
Season 5, episode 3 — Front Runners
Season 5, episode 4 — The Soft War
Season 5, episode 5 — Tipping Points

Why it’s essential watching (without giving it all away….):

  • The seeds of Rebellion and (eventually) the Alliance – although we certainly didn’t realize it at the time, the arc detailing the liberation of inner-rim planet Onderon would be the seed that eventually became the Rebellion. A small band of freedom-fighting rebels, trained and armed by the Jedi, rising up to take back the throne of their homeward from a Separatist installed, dictating King.
  • Hello Saw Gerrera (and his sister Steela) – again, we didn’t realize it at the time but the introduction of freedom-fighting brother and sister Saw and Steela Gerrera would have a massive impact on the Star Wars galaxy as a whole moving forward. And through this introduction we see exactly why Saw became what he becomes. Both roles were also very well played by their voice actors, which always helps.
  • Game of Thrones style setting in Star Wars – the world of Onderon, it’s fantastic beasts, and it’s colorful characters had a very palpable old world Game of Thrones-esque feel, and it was very cool to see this in Star Wars.
  • Ahsoka dealing with her own attachment issues – the cute little crush Ahsoka has on Lux Bonteri is dealt a blow when they reconnect in this arc, as he’s clearly smitten with Steela Gerrara. Anakin’s soft and understanding warnings on this subject are so awesome to me. By the climax she has put these feelings in the corner where they belong, showing more growth for her character.
  • Loss and sacrifices – not going to spoil anything, but the war on Onderon is not without it’s sacrifices in this arc, and it really reinforces how mature and grown up this series has become by this point. Very good stuff here.
  • Rex – as always, he’s fucking awesome. That’s all.
  • Rad canon connections – obviously Saw Gerrera’s character introduction, which has huge implications on the SW universe moving forward; Separatist droid commander Kalani, who is a very rad character and pops back up in the Rebels episode The Last Battle.

Last but not least, here is a gallery of images from this arc, enjoy! I’ll be back with essential arc #10 tomorrow…