The notoriously and perpetually polarized Star Wars fandom rarely agrees on anything, but they might just agree on the franchise’s best story arc.
Star Wars fans remain starkly divided when it comes to the franchise’s best films, best characters, and best villains, but one storyline is strong enough to bring even the endlessly divided fandom together. Fans are bringing attention to a late arc in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and celebrating “The Siege of Mandalore” as “a perfect Star Wars story.”
The third and final arc of the Clone Wars seventh season, and the final arc of the animated series overall, “The Siege of Mandalore” is broadly praised by fans of the franchise’s animated offerings. It heaps intrigue on in full force, teasing the emperor’s impending plan and upping the stakes for the entire cast of characters. The arc consists of four episodes, starting with “Old Friends Not Forgotten” and concluding with “Victory and Death.”
The spectacular arc, teased by some as “the Star Wars movie we deserve,” is being lauded as one of the very best on Reddit’s official Star Wars sub. Commenters are in full agreement that “The Siege of Mandalore” is “peak Star Wars” and maintains, several years after release, as one of the strongest stories the franchise has ever released.
The arc follows Ahsoka, now a former Jedi Commander, as she works with Bo-Katan to track down the perpetually troublesome Maul. The former Sith Lord has reestablished himself on Mandalore, spawned a criminal empire, and attempted to take control of the Outer Rim planet, with middling success. Several betrayals and some truly epic fight scenes make the arc one to remember, as does the death of a longtime friend of Obi-Wan’s.
The arc has absolutely everything required to make a spectacular story, and even helps to establish and set-up characters and plot lines that play out in other series. Fans of The Mandalorian are officially familiar with the non-animated Bo-Katan, as well as a non-animated Dark Saber, but these elements originated in the franchise’s animated series.
Fans of the series are raining praise on the “Siege of Mandalore” arc, noting its many thrilling moments—like the fight between Ahsoka and Maul, Anakin’s final moments with his former apprentice, and Ahsoka’s escape from her beloved clones—and propping it as the very best the Star Wars universe has to offer.
It might not be enough to bring the live-action die-hards into the animated fold, but the post makes it clear that they’re missing out. We’ll likely never see the events of The Clone Wars make their way into live action, which really shouldn’t be a disappointment. The show is already near-perfect, and its final arc proves that.