Star Wars: The Clone Wars is set to return to Cartoon Network on September 29. Last season’s revelations, especially the return of Darth Maul, has fans yearning to know more. And during a panel at Star Wars Celebration VI, director Dave Filoni gave attendees plenty of food for thought. Some were hints, while other statements and clips were definitive spoilers.
I will try to avoid direct spoilers, but here is what we can look forward to in season five.
Birth of a rebellion
A major (and surprising) character will begin training what Filoni called, “small pockets of resistance.” Filoni confirmed that these resistance fighters originally were formed to defend planets after the Separatists had been defeated. The bigger news is that these will serve as the origin for the rebellion against the Empire.
Angry Anakin
Filoni spoke about how the Clone Wars was beginning to wear on Anakin Skywalker. He said this season will show a darker, angrier side of Anakin. This will not only be present in Anakin’s actions, but shown through his interactions with those close to him.
Obi-Wan knows
In a spoilerific scene, attendees were privy to a very deep verbal chess match between Anakin and Obi-Wan. I am not going to give away any details, but it shows Obi Wan is far more observant than he lets on.
Sidious shows his power
At some point in the season, someone who knows that Chancellor Palpatine is actually Darth Sidious will confront him. From what I could tell, big mistake for the character and big win for viewers.
Girl power
Filoni spoke at the panel about how Ashley Eckstein’s Ahsoka Tano had brought in a fresh crop of female fans. He and George Lucas decided to reward these fans with a new heroine. This non-Jedi will actually rescue Obi Wan at some point. This grand entrance is hopefully the beginning of many appearances.
Droid power
Filoni is flexing his story telling muscles this season with a droid only story arc. These shows will flesh out R2D2 in a way only Filoni and Lucas could imagine. While this might provide a brief respite in the darker overall story line, there will be no shortage of action considering the scenes we were shown.
Things will be more complicated
The main thing I took away from the panel is the increasing complexity of the show. They will continue fleshing out the established relationships and expand on the established Star Wars mythology. The complications arise as things begin to fall into a far more gray area than before. Toss in a third faction to the series political and military story lines, and season five will be a combustible mixture.
Final Thought
I walked away breathless from the one hour panel discussing season five. The pace of the show seems to be speeding up. The story is getting darker and more mature. Questions from 1977 may actually be answered. So many things crammed into that tiny amount of time that it took a couple of days to separate them all.
Mainly, I could not help but sense that season five is the one we have been waiting for.
