(This is re-edit of an older article. Available here.)

Following Attack of the Clones, the creator of Samurai Jack, Genndy Tartakovsky, was hired by Lucasfilm to produce an animated mini-series set during the clone wars. The episodes were short, just a few minutes long (they got longer in the final season) and the whole show can be watched in a couple of hours.

And it’s incredible.

It is a little intense watching it in one sitting, since it’s practically non-stop action (though as a kid I absolutely loved that, and still do). It’s also very different to the subsequent 2008 show The Clone Wars. That show is ‘helpfully’ distinguished from 2003 Clone Wars by the addition of the word ‘the’.

Still they’re both excellent. I always got the impression that 2003 Clone Wars influenced 2008. They share a lot of DNA, besides both being clone wars era shows. For instance, some of the 2003 voice actors were carried over to 2008, including Obi-Wan voice actor James Arnold Taylor.

There were several characters and ideas that got carried over as well. Asaji Ventress, a prominent 2008 character, was introduced in 2003. Although in fairness, I believe this character was originally devised for Attack of the Clones, before they created Count Dooku.

Continuity

Initially, the shows were intended to exist within the same continuity. Admittedly everything was canon before Disney. There used to be a tier list that told you how canonical something was. But, as far as I’m aware, when the 2008 show started, was explicitly still canon.

There’s a large time jump in the 2003 show. It’s early seasons focus on the start of the war, the Battle of Muunilinst in particular. This is implied to be Obi-Wan’s first major campaign. He states on Coruscant that his army is ready and, whilst watching them mobilise, wonders whether even Qui-Gon could have prepared him for war.

The final season of 2003, by contrast, takes place at the end of the war. It depicts the battle of Coruscant and leads directly into Revenge of the Sith. There is a brief montage covering the time jump, which starts just after Anakin’s knighting, but that’s it.

The 2008 show was meant to occur during this time jump. But at some point they change their minds (or maybe they always intended this). Presumably to avoid creative restriction, which is fair enough. The 2003 show was de-canonised fairly quickly, or pushed down the tier list and then resigned to Legends by Disney.

As much as I love the 2008 show (I grew up watching it), I also love the 2003 show. They sometimes get compared to each other, but it doesn’t have to be either/or. They’re very different and both great in their own way.

More than that, since they’re focused on different events, I reckon the 2003 show could be (almost) completely re-canonised without affecting the 2008 continuity. In fact, I’d hazard that re-canonising 2003 improves 2008.

Important Events

There are several important events in the 2003 show that weren’t seen in 2008. When the latter show starts, Anakin is already a knight. The actually knighting ceremony is depicted in 2003. It also depicts minor, glossed over plot points, like C3PO’s grey metal covering being replaced with gold.

As noted, it’s during the 2003 show that Ventress is recruited by Dooku and Sidious. She then has a battle with Anakin and is seemingly killed (she falls into a dark chasm, which does not necessarily equal death). The 2008 show, which brought her back, seems to reference this. In the opening movie, Dooku tells Ventress that she will soon have her revenge against Anakin.

To my knowledge, the 2008 show never provided an explanation for why Ventress would want revenge on Anakin. So, it’s possible that some version of that 2003 fight still took place. 2008 did give Ventress a series of flashbacks, one of which shows her pledging allegiance to Dooku. But I don’t think these scenes contradict 2003. The Dooku flashback could have occurred after her apparent death.

Perhaps most importantly, the 2003 show also introduced General Grievous. It was his first on screen appearance and no subsequent show or movie has had a better depiction. If you’ve never seen the 2003 show, Grievous might seem like a cartoon villain (and not just because he is a cartoon villain). He’s constantly failing, running away and he’s comically evil. But the 2003 introduction is incredible, and makes it clear why the Jedi are scared of him.

Continuity Problems

There are a few continuity problems that arise from re-canonising 2003, but they can, with one or two exceptions, be explained. For instance, the 2003 and 2008 shows have there own, very different, version of the war on Mon Cala (an ocean planet divided between the Republic-backed Mon Calamari and the Separatist-backed Quarren).

Both versions of Mon Cala feature Jedi Knight Kit Fisto, but they initially appear incompatible. For one thing, 2003 depicts the Mon Calamari as knights who ride on big sea snakes. 2008 does not do this. But the discrepancies are explainable.

My theory is that whilst the 2008 version depicts the formal outbreak of the Mon Cala civil war, there had been hostilities leading up to it. The 2003 version references a group called the Quarren Isolation League. I imagine this as a somewhat extreme Quarren grouping not representative of the main Quarren polity. I imagine the same is true of the Mon Calamari Knights.

Sure enough, the 2003 version likely take place at the start of the war. The Republic forces arrive on unpainted Acclamator-class assault ships. The only other times they’ve been seen unpainted is in Attack of the Clones and the other opening salvos of the 2003 show, meaning any depiction where they’re unpainted is probably an early event in the Clone Wars. In 2008, by contrast, the Acclamators have a painted red stripe.

The 2008 version of the Mon Cala, moreover, briefly features the clones in their updated phase 2 armour. Although most of them are wearing scuba equipment. This means it takes place during the mid-to-late war. The 2008 version also depicts the formal political split between the two governments.

I’d surmise, in summary of Mon Cala, that when the Clone Wars started, the radical Quarren Isolation League immediately rebelled. They were confronted by Republic peacekeepers and traditionalist Mon Cala law enforcement (the weird knights). But the actual governments remained broadly peaceful.

However, tensions between the official Mon Cala and Quarren governments gradually escalated (likely inflamed by the radicals). The assassination of the Mon Cala king subsequently sparked a full-blown war between them, depicted in 2008. This explains the continuity clash fairly well.

Most of the continuity errors can be explained in a similar way. For reasons of pacing and time, the various shows can only ever depict a snapshot of otherwise complex political events. If the two shows have different or contradictory versions of the same event, they could just be different aspects of the same complex whole. To that end, combining them can improve the overall lore.

Characters

One of the main inconsistencies between the shows, often discussed, is the different characterisations. As noted, the 2003 version of Grievous is massively different to the film and 2008 version. He doesn’t have his characteristic cough either. There is a brief explanation for this, Mace Windu crushes his chest during his final 2003 appearance. That doesn’t line up with 2008, where the cough is always present.

Still, it’s discrepancy I think can be overlooked. The cough is less severe in the 2008 show than in Revenge of the Sith, so the chest-crushing moment still makes canonical sense.

Some of 2003’s characterisations, meanwhile, are actually more film-accurate than 2008. Most notably, Anakin. 2008 did an incredible job with Anakin. It made him into a very heroic and likeable protagonist. But that is inconsistent with the films. Recent live-action depictions, in the Ahsoka and Obi-Wan shows, have done a lot to reconcile this (and Hayden Christensen did a great job here). Nevertheless, the 2003 version of Anakin is closer to the film version.

In short, both shows have mischaracterisations. Yet in both cases, it improves the characters. 2003 Grevious and 2008 Anakin are the best versions. Anakin’s mischaracterisation is already overlooked, I think Grevious’ should be as well. Besides, just as political events are multi-faceted, so are people. We only get brief glimpses of Grievous in 2003, and even his 2008 appearances represent a few in-universe hours of his life. He might have inconsistent days (I realise this is a weak argument for inconsistent characterisation, but I stand by it).

It’s also noted that 2003 Jedi are overpowered compared to the films. This can be overlooked as well. Jedi power levels are also inconsistent in the films. In The Phantom Menace, there’s a scene in which Obi-Wan and Qui Gon Jinn are able to run at super speed. Something which is never done again by any Jedi at any point in the franchise, except 2003. Perhaps Jedi are able to temporarily increase their own power for short bursts of time, potentially exhausting themselves in the process.

Some more thought is probably needed on how to square the various character discrepancies between 2003 and 2008. But as I keep saying, for now I think it can be overlooked. There are a lot of character inconsistencies in Star Wars, that’s not unique to the 2003 show. To my mind, that’s something to be theorised around. I don’t think it warrants 2003’s de-canonisation.

One Problem

The only continuity issue that can’t easily be resolved, at least to my mind, is 2003’s final scene. It’s the moment in which Anakin and Obi-Wan learn Coruscant has been attacked and the Chancellor kidnapped. The show ends with them rushing off to save him.

This wasn’t an issue prior to the release of 2008’s long delayed season 7, but now it’s directly contradicted by the incredible Siege of Mandalore arc. That arc also depicts Anakin and Obi-Wan learning about the attack on Coruscant and, again, rushing off to save the Chancellor.

Even here, there is crossover. It’s mentioned in 2008 that the Jedi Shaak Ti has gone to protect the Chancellor, which has only been depicted in 2003. Still, I can’t (yet) think of a way to satisfactorily reconcile these different depictions of the exact same moment. Only to partially reconcile them.

I’ll admit this does throw a bit of cold water on everything I’ve said so far. It’s just a single line of dialogue causing the problem as well, which is annoying. It will never happen, but my ideal scenario is for a re-release of the 2003 show that’s been slightly edited (special edition style) to be a more in-keeping with the canon.

That might be heresy, I know, but I’m not suggesting any substantial changes, nor do I want the original version to disappear. Just a slight re-ordering of events and a change and/or exclusion of the one continuity-breaking line. In short, I just want the 2003 show to be re-canonised in some way.

As for partially reconciling them, the two scenes occur at slightly different times in the Battle of Coruscant. In the 2008 show they receive the urgent message about Coruscant being attacked, but are told the Chancellor is still safe. In 2003, they receive an urgent message in which the Chancellor has already been captured.

The 2003 version can be reframed as taking place at a slightly later time. This does change the context of the 2003 scene, it starts with an Obi-Wan and Anakin heart-to-heart about some of Anakin’s recent experiences, but I think that’s fine. The dialogue could be retconned, without any changes, to be about their brief 2008 reunion with Ahsoka.

This still involves them learning the same information twice, which is not ideal. That’s why I say it’s not completely satisfactory. But if that means the 2003 show can be re-canonised, I’m okay with that. Especially since the 2008 version never shows the Battle of Coruscant, and the 2003 version does.

-Dexter