Star Wars The Clone Wars is widely considered the best of the best when it comes to Star Wars
animation, and possibly even Star Wars as a whole. But hidden beneath the surface of this show is a
huge range of hidden facts, references and easter eggs that will probably shock even the most die
hard fans… So today we’re going to break down to the deepest and darkest layers of the Clone
Wars iceberg… And for those of you who don’t know how the iceberg format works, we start off at the
top discussing some of the really obvious and well known facts and references, before moving
deeper to the obscure and very unknown parts… So, hit the sub button and lets get into it!
Animation models based on 2003. This refers to the models of the
2008 series being largely based on the artstyle of the 2003 Clone Wars series,
which was in the style of Genndy Tartakovsky. Originally the 2008 series was meant to continue
the same spirit of the earlier show, which is why multiple characters are based on or inspired from
their 2003 counterparts, but eventually the show spiralled into its own thing,
and gained a more independent identity. This is why Count Dooku has the extremely stretched head,
why Anakin is called Chin-Akin and why Obi-Wan has a beard as sharp as a knife.
LEGO. This is obviously talking
about the Star Wars branch of LEGO products, they have sets both for kids and adults, and recently
some of the new sets were revealed, and they look pretty awesome. LEGO Star Wars has made a lot of
great memories for kids growing up, especially me, so it’s only right to give it a mention.
Movie.
This refers to the 2008 Clone Wars movie which started it all, the theatrical release met very
mixed reception as it was on one hand a new and interesting concept, but on the other,
prequel haters were really bitter about the franchise and this new project didn’t
help them with that at all. But for fans of the show, this movie is what started it all.
Defective.
Deficiency is something which has, in a funny way, become a mainstay for Clone
Wars fans. Defective clones have made their way into our hearts, whether it be the very
cool and deadly Bad Batch, or sweet and kind 99 who made all of us tear up when he passed.
Kid’s show. I don’t know about you, but growing up with
online forums, I kept seeing people talk about how The Clone Wars is a silly kid’s show and that
nobody would watch it. Well, as any fan knows, the series has its share of very graphic moments,
as well as features some of the most devastating storytelling in the Star Wars franchise.
Fives.
The subject of one of those amazing storylines, Fives was a clone trooper who discovered the
inhibitor chips which were capable of controlling the clones and forcing them to do horrific things
under the rule of the Chancellor. Upon trying to bring his findings to the Jedi, he was killed,
but his legacy was never forgotten, as it’s thanks to his acts that multiple clones were able to
remove their chips and avoid becoming traitors to the people they had fought beside for years.
Anakin’s Admiral in A New Hope. Wulf Yularen, the renowned Admiral
under Anakin’s command throughout the Clone Wars, he was largely seen on the Resolute,
Anakin’s venator-class flagship. Later on, after Order 66 and Anakin’s fall to the dark side,
Yularen remained loyal to his superiors, and became a senior member of the Galactic Empire,
and it’s thanks to this that we actually see him during A New Hope. He was stationed on the
Death Star, so we see him in a meeting with Vader, and, later on in the movie,
he’s killed in the destruction of the Emperor’s ultimate creation.
Quotes. Each episode of the
clone wars until the final arc had little quotes before the episodes started. These were morals of
the story which carried the general theme of each episode, since it was targeted towards children.
Anakin ghosting Grievous. In Episode 3, which obviously
came out before The Clone Wars did, Anakin meets Grievous for the first
time. It’s due to this that in the series, we have Obi-Wan meet the General multiple times,
but Anakin doesn’t at all. Well.. technically, he was in his vicinity,
but he never actually met him. In the one episode they could have met, Anakin was knocked out and
Grievous couldn’t see properly thanks to a helmet that was put on him. A pretty cool detail which
shows the attention the writers pay to the source material. Quite unlike what happens nowadays..
Watch order. This refers to the very bizarre release order of
The Clone Wars. Did you know that watching it in the order it comes with on a DVD or Disney plus is
actually wrong? The show’s early episodes weren’t released in chronological order, so in order to
do that, you need to follow this very long and confusing watch order provided by Lucasfilm.
Dryden Voss Cameo. In season 7 of The Clone Wars,
we can see very briefly Dryden Voss, one of the high-level members of Darth Maul’s crime
syndicate Crimson Dawn. We first meet him in Solo: A Star Wars Story, where he played a major role.
Returning cast. Multiple actors from past
Star Wars projects came back as voices for The Clone Wars, whether as their own characters or
new ones. Christopher Lee was the voice of Count Dooku in the 2008 series, before his role was
given to somebody else, and the same goes for Mace Windu’s actor Samuel L. Jackson. Matthew Wood,
the original voice of General Grievous in Revenge of the Sith, reprised his role, as did
Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn, and, of course, Mark Hammill voiced Darth Bane in season 6.
Nik Sant. Nik Sant is this Rebel soldier right here who was
first seen in Return of the Jedi during the attack on the Death Star’s shield generator. Well, many
decades later, fans noticed he bore a striking resemblance to Captain Rex, particularly his
Star Wars Rebels appearance. Although it hasn’t been confirmed in canon, Filoni has said it’s
up to interpretation and that in his headcanon it is indeed Captain Rex helping out on Endor.
Chips. The Inhibitor chips were
introduced in season six of The Clone Wars, where Fives, as mentioned earlier, discovers that each
clone has one of these chips on them which is what led to the execution of Order 66. Prior to this,
as is seen in the 2005 game Star Wars: Battlefront 2, the clones were actually just very obedient,
carrying out missions alongside the Jedi knowing that they were eventually going to kill them, and,
after that happened, many of them fell bad, but remained loyal to Palpatine.
Clone memorial. We only get a glimpse of it in The Clone Wars,
but this wall right here is actually a memorial of all the clones who passed away in the first battle
of Geonosis. It’s here where, later, Commander Cody speaks to Crosshair, thinking back on the
memories he had with his brothers, ultimately leading to his defection from the Empire.
Your powers have doubled since the last time we met.. Last week!
The infamous line which Anakin says to Dooku in episode 3 was intended to mean
that since their duel in Attack of the Clones, Anakin has grown incredibly stronger. However,
in canon, their last duel after episode 2 was actually only a few weeks or a couple
months before their final meeting. The quote can still make some level of sense,
since Anakin did grow very quickly in power, but it’s clear that the line lost
some of its impact because of the countless meetings the two had during the series.
Obi-Wan’s death. This refers to the arc where
Obi-Wan fakes his death to take on a new identity in order to foil a plot to assassinate Chancelor
Palpatine. Thanks to advanced technology, Obi-Wan was able to temporarily change his appearance and
voice to match that of Rako Hardeen, a bounty hunter who was hired to murder Obi-Wan. We’ll
talk more about him in a bit.. I don’t know about you guys, but when I saw this episode for the
first time I was in shock. I knew he couldn’t actually be dead because I’d seen A New Hope,
so I was absolutely confused at how they were going to make this fake death play out.
Indy is canon. Although this one’s a bit of a reach,
multiple aspects of Indiana Jones have made their way into star wars as easter eggs,
and there are a lot of references taken from the series. So while he himself may not be canon,
some of his discoveries are, such as the Headpiece to the staff of Ra,
the Ark of the Covenant, and the crystal skull of Akator.
Delta Squad.
Originally created for the awesome video game Republic Commando, this was a squad
of elite clone commandos trained for high-value missions involving kidnappings, assassinations,
and other massive-scale operations. The particular characters from the game were
featured briefly in The Clone Wars, and one of them has made an appearance in The Bad Batch,
Revan. Darth Revan is a fan-favourite character
from Star Wars Legends who first appeared in the Knights of the Old Republic games. He was intended
to be brought into canon through The Clone Wars, where he’d appear as a sith force ghost alongside
Darth Bane. Although Bane did make it in to the final cut, with a different appearance in a later
season, the original plan of having these two characters guide the Son from Mortis was scrapped.
Son of Dathomir. Originally planned as an arc of
The Clone Wars, this fell to the wayside after the show was cancelled, but found new life in a comic
adaption, which is universally loved by fans. The story follows Maul's capture by Darth Sidious,
who manipulates him to lure out Mother Talzin, the leader of the Nightsisters and Maul's mother.
Seeking revenge, Maul frees himself and captures Count Dooku and General Grievous, leading to a
conflict involving the Galactic Republic and Jedi Order, aiming to end the ongoing war.
In-universe Imperial march. This refers to a very silly
easter egg in the second episode of season one, which has a droid humming a modified version of
the imperial march as he joyfully does his job of killing people by sucking them into space.. Yeah,
that’s pretty dark, but it’s not actually too strange, since other media has in-universe moments
like this, such as the Old Republic MMO which took place thousands of years before this episode.
Qymaen jai Sheelal. The birth name of who
would later become General Grievos, Qymaen, a native of Kalee, became a formidable warrior
leading his people in a war against species which possessed advanced technology. Renaming
himself Grievous after many conquests, he gained a ruthless reputation and caught the attention of
Sith Lords Darth Sidious and Darth Tyranus. After a near-fatal sabotage of their design, Grievous
was converted into a cybernetic being by the Sith, becoming a skilled lightsaber duelist and rising
to the rank of Supreme Martial Commander of the Separatist Droid Armies during the Clone Wars.
Bug is Morgan Elsbeth. General Grievous's attack
on Dathomir and the Nightsisters' tragic fate is part of a well-loved The Clone Wars episode.
In "The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark," there's a unique short story called "Bug" that
loosely connects to the episode, telling the story of a Nightsister searching for her lost
daughter. This tale introduces a girl named Bug, who was exiled on a world called Sidi
and had silver hair. It’s thought that this may potentially be the origin of Morgan Elsbeth from
The Mandalorian and Ahsoka, because the story was written by E. Anne Convery, wife of Dave
Filoni. While the evidence isn’t overwhelming, this story was published very shortly before
Eslbeth even appeared in The Mandalorian, so there very well may be a connection.
Rako Hardeen is Mandalorian. Rako Hardeen, also known as the "Marksman
of Concord Dawn," was born on that planer and as such was a Mandalorian. He was a bounty hunter
hired to assassinate Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. Little did Hardeen know, he was unknowingly
working for the Jedi Order, who faked Kenobi's death as part of a larger plan which we covered
earlier. A lot of people don’t realise that he’s a Mandalorian, but it’s a cool little detail.
Greedo. Very briefly,
we see Greedo in the episode “Sphere of influence” as he leads the kidnapping of Papanoida’s family.
It’s a very quick scene and easily forgotten, but it’s a really nice easter egg. Interestingly,
he speaks basic, which is the Star Wars version of English, which he was planned
to speak in A New Hope, before it was changed for him to speak an unknown alien language.
Clone trooper “Ridge”. This is one of the fascinating
details which really remind us how interconnected the Star Wars galaxy is. Ridge was a clone trooper
who was first seen in the Clone Wars movie way back in 2008 fighting alongside Captain
Rex in the assault on Teth. Twelve years later in 2020, he featured in The Clone Wars season 7,
as one of the many clones aboard Ahsoka’s ship, the Tribunal. Unfortunately he succumbed
to order 66, turning on Ahsoka and Rex, leading to his death when the ship crashed.
Kenobi has a son. Korkie Kryze was the nephew of
Dutchess Satine of Mandalore, but his parents were never revealed, and anytime he got into trouble,
it was always his aunt who he was close with. Due to Satine and Obi-Wan’s extensive history
together, the age of Korkie, and the fact that his parents are a myster,
many theorise that he is actually the son of Obi-Wan, who Satine kept a secret to the public.
Wookieepedia is canon. In season two episode sixteen, a
very cool reference can be found to a project made by the fans. Wookieepedia is a very popular wiki
which covers all things Star Wars, and one of the articles was translated into aurebesh and placed
on a datascreen. While this is something very small and needs translation to understand, it is
very sweet and a nice nod to the efforts of fans who do their best to keep the wiki up to date.
War crimes. The Clone Wars features many,
many war crimes. So many that it’s actually hard to count without rewatching the entire
series just for that purpose. Some of the popular ones are torture,
killing fleeing enemies, forced deportation, usage of false surrenders,
which was a personal favourite of Anakin Skwalker, and, of course, training terrorists.
Somehow, Zillo Beast returned.. The Zillo Beast, believed extinct
by the Dugs of Malastare, was accidentally unearthed by the Galactic Republic during
the Battle of Malastare. A giant and deadly creature, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine aimed
to utilize its indestructible exterior towards the Republic's benefit, such as
powerful armour but the creature broke free on Coruscant, leading to a destructive rampage.
Eventually, the Jedi had no choice but to kill the Zillo Beast using a potent toxin,
after which Palpatine ordered unsuccessful cloning attempts. At least, that was the case,
until the Galactic Empire came into existence, when Dr. Hemlock achieved success and cloned
several beasts in the Weyland facility inside Mount Tantiss. So thanks to the cloning
experiments that Palpatine was obsessed with from the early stages of his reign,
he was not only able to bring back the Zillo Beast, but also himself…
Anakin and Obi-Wan almost helped built the Death Star..
In one of the planned arcs for a cancelled season of The Clone Wars,
known as the Crystal Crisis, Anakin and Obi-Wan go to Utapau to investigate
the death of Jedi Master Tu-Anh, leading to them discovering a plot involving the Amani,
Separatists, and a massive kyber crystal with the potential to power a superweapon.
The arc mainly explores Anakin's emotions and strained relationship with the Jedi Council,
following his padawan Ahsoka’s departure. The obvious implication for the Sepratists trying
to get their hands on this insane crystal is to use it as a source of power for the
Death Star. Well, at some point, Obi-Wan and Anakin get possession of the crystal,
then lose it and have to end up destroying it, narrowly avoiding the Sepratists getting
away with it forever. If that had happened, they would have directly caused countless
deaths through the use of the crystal in the Death Star. A very dark story to think about.
Sabine’s mom appears. This one’s very simple; Sabine
from Star Wars Rebels has an arc which showcases her rocky relationship with her family, especially
her mother, and it turns out that in The Clone Wars Season 7, her mother can be seen slongisde
Bo Katan when she approaches Ahsoka asking for help on Mandalore. A very cool little detail.
The propaganda theory.. This is honestly a really
fascinating theory, and one that makes for a really interesting headcanon. So
there’s always been an incredibly passionate fanbase behind the 2003 Clone Wars show,
and when the 2008 one came out and seemed a lot more childish, they were extremely disheartened.
From this there arose a theory that the 2003 series were the true events of the clone wars,
showing a lot of the grit and struggle on both sides, while the 2008 series was Republic
propaganda used to get civillians on their side. The theory does have some holes, like Ahsoka’s
arc clearly showing anto-Republic sentiments, but in a way, this could actually be a way to
show her as some form of enemy or traitor for leaving the Jedi and Republic when the war was
almost at its end. So it’s a very fascinating idea, and with a little twists here and there
it would be a really good piece of headcanon - both series could be accepted sde by side, but
the discrepancies are due to Republic retellings trying to make things go one way or another.
So that was The Clone Wars Iceberg, full of many interesting facts, theories, and
references tha you might not have known. If you did know them all, let me know in the comments,
but be sure to be honest. Drop a like on the video if you enjoyed, subscribe for more awesome
content, and if you made it this far, drop a “thank mr Obi” in the comments down below.