- "Any opportunity to put the final pieces of the story in place is meaningful as a storyteller. I'm happy for the opportunity to define these things and the end of this part of the Clone War."
- ―Dave Filoni
The Clone Wars: Season Seven was the seventh season of the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series.[15] Marketed as The Final Season, it is a revival run of twelve episodes that aired on Disney+. The revival was announced by the series' supervising director, Dave Filoni, on July 19, 2018 at San Diego Comic-Con, during a panel commemorating the show's tenth anniversary. The episodes are a continuation of the series after it was cancelled in 2013, and include the Siege of Mandalore. Series stars Matt Lanter, Ashley Eckstein, James Arnold Taylor, Dee Bradley Baker, Tom Kane, Sam Witwer, Katee Sackhoff, and more all returned to lend their voices to the series.
Development
- "Without getting too much into detail - because I love the fan speculation - but it would be a real shame to have done all this work and not use it. So we are looking at everything and going over all those scripts we had. I think that the biggest thing for me is "how do we make this show better?" And I think that means examining all the work we had done, the work we were planning on doing, and also trying to honor the work of so many people that were in the middle of making stuff."
- ―Dave Filoni
Star Wars: The Clone Wars ran from October 3, 2008[17] until its final regular broadcast episode on March 2, 2013,[18] following the show's cancellation at the end of its fifth season.[19] A half-length season was available on Netflix on March 7, 2014,[20] and some story arcs were released in several different mediums in the following years.[21] The show was succeeded by Star Wars Rebels,[22] which continued the story of Clone Wars era characters like Ahsoka Tano and Clone Captain Rex,[23] but fans continued asking for more episodes of The Clone Wars.[24] A famous hashtag for the campaign was #SaveTheCloneWars.[25]
The Clone Wars Saved poster
An extension of the original series on the Disney+ streaming service was announced at San Diego Comic Con on July 19, 2018, during a panel commemorating the show's 10th anniversary. The announcement came with a trailer for the new season and a poster that contained the hashtag #CloneWarsSaved, referencing the fan campaign.[11] A StarWars.com interview with Dave Filoni, the show's supervising director, confirmed that the new season would contain 12 new episodes.[1] One of the story arcs in the season was the Siege of Mandalore, with some scenes about it in the trailer.[11] The arc was originally intended as the show's series finale,[26] and takes place days before and during the events of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, including Order 66.[27] The arc was referenced in Star Wars Rebels[28] and partly adapted in the young-adult novel Ahsoka.[27] The author E. K. Johnston later revealed that she was asked not to write action scenes for the Siege of Mandalore in the book, as unbeknownst to her Lucasfilm was working on the final season.[29]
Matt Lanter, Ashley Eckstein, James Arnold Taylor, and Dee Bradley Baker were confirmed to be reprising their respective roles as Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Captain Rex by the revival trailer.[11] In August 2018, Tom Kane confirmed on his Facebook account that he had recorded lines for five new episodes of the revival, but he did not confirm if he would be reprising his roles as either the Narrator, Yoda, or Wullf Yularen.[12] He went on to reprise all three roles.[4][30][31] As of November 5, 2018, recording was still underway according to Eckstein.[32] Sam Witwer and Ray Park were later confirmed to be reprising the role of Maul,[13] with the former providing the voice as he had done in previous seasons and the latter performing motion capture reference.[33] During production, several of the models, including that of Captain Rex, were tweaked and improved upon based on new animation technology.[13] Star Wars Insider 190 later revealed that as of June 12, 2019, production of the episodes was still ongoing.[34] Filoni felt that his experience making Star Wars: The Mandalorian had informed his work on this season.[35] Even though he was no longer working on the franchise, Star Wars creator George Lucas talked about some series concepts and ideas with Filoni, who endeavored to keep the revival with Lucas' vision so it, along with other projects, could be faithful to the franchise's films and ideologies.[36]
Release and reception
The Clone Wars revival was the subject of a panel at 2019's Celebration Chicago, which took place on April 14.[37] During the panel, behind-the-scenes images and a trailer were shown. The trailer, besides showing more footage of "Ahsoka's Walkabout" and the Siege of Mandalore also confirmed that the revival would include a finished version of the "Bad Batch" arc, initially released as an unfinished story reel, with completed animation.[13]
Her Universe released a new line of clothing based on Season Seven.[38]
The season premiered on Disney+ on February 21, 2020.[2] Alongside the release, Clone Wars Download—a series of short videos exploring the episodes—also premiered.[39]
Media
Episodes
| Episode | Image | Title | Original Airdate | Prod. # |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 701[40] | 
|
"The Bad Batch"[13] |
|
|
| 702[40] | 
|
"A Distant Echo"[13] |
|
|
| 703[45] | 
|
"On the Wings of Keeradaks"[13] | ||
| 704[45] | 
|
"Unfinished Business"[13] | ||
| 705[45] | 
|
"Gone with a Trace"[45] | March 20, 2020[45] | |
| 706[45] | 
|
"Deal No Deal"[45] | March 27, 2020[45] | |
| 707[48] | 
|
"Dangerous Debt"[48] | April 3, 2020[48] | |
| 708[48] | 
|
"Together Again"[48] | April 10, 2020[48] | |
| 709[48] | 
|
"Old Friends Not Forgotten"[48] | April 17, 2020[48] | |
| 710[48] | 
|
"The Phantom Apprentice"[48] | April 24, 2020[48] | |
| 711[53] | 
|
"Shattered"[53] | May 1, 2020[53] | |
| 712[53] | 
|
"Victory and Death"[53] | May 4, 2020[53] |
Sources
Notes and references
