Announced today on the Star Wars website, Season 5 of the Clone Wars was the series last. There's also other news regarding Detours and a tease of more content and a new animated series on a "previously untouched" time period. Clearly, the new powers that be believe that there's more overall interest in content that relates the original trilogy.
I have yet to post my reviews for the final story arc. We'll see if they happen - as you know I've been extremely up and down on posting here. Life just got in the way of consistently reviewing the show. Still, I was glad to have Star Wars to look forward to week after week, loved the series, and am glad to have shared it with so many of you.
I will say this: Ahsoka Tano came to a perfectly respectable end, probably the best way they could have pulled it off. Her final moments are perfect. They leave some questions unanswered, sure, but isn't that a bit better than a thorough, retcon-style explanation of why a character created AFTER the prequels doesn't appear in Episode III? Basically, we have all we need. We know she's no longer a Jedi by the time the purge happens. We know that Anakin isn't mourning her death, she's just an another example of his dissolution with the Jedi overall. It deepens his story, but doesn't become required viewing to understand him.
From the start, I found Ahsoka difficult to enjoy.. She just wasn't really meant for me to enjoy. She was designed as a young, female protagonist. A window into the series to a new generation of kids.
As such, I can't speak to how successful she was. I can only say that I came to find her more and more effective as a character, and I think if the series is the story of Ahsoka, then they married her story to the overall arc of the Jedi's fall especially well. Their moral compromise is reflected in her final story in a way that I think is sharp and entertaining.
In the end, though, most of my favorite episodes and stories just didn't feature her. She seemed, to the Star Wars series overall, an unnecessary addition. With so many Jedi, so many clones, so many bounty hunters, so many smugglers, I still don't quite get why we needed to add the bratty, teenager to the mix. Even if she grew up over five years.
So... a qualified thumbs up to the final arc. They did their best to make Ahsoka a part of the Star Wars canon, truly matured her, and worked her into the larger story. If I was never really the audience for her, that doesn't mean I didn't love the series. I did.
In the end, though, it's time to move on. The prequel era has, between the films and Clone Wars series, a full and well-told story, with vast battles, beautiful animation, new wrinkles, and mysterious places for conjecture. Hours of stories for us to watch, re-watch, and appreciate.
The Force was with this series. I can't wait for what's next.
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