Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels had a number of amazing story arcs and continuing plot elements that further deepened the history, world-building, and overall mythology of the franchise. Sometimes, however, it is too difficult to find all the episodes necessary to gain a clearer understanding of the stories and theme being told. Today, I hope to begin alleviating some of your frustration by providing you with episode guides to story arcs, themes, and character developments, big & small, found in The Clone Wars and Rebels.
These guides are entirely opinionated, so if you think I missed something or would like to share your own thoughts, feel free to message me anytime on Discord or Twitter. Look out for more upcoming guides and let’s hope we can update those existing guides once Resistance premieres.
Episode Guide: War Stories of the 501st
A guide to viewing and discussing the most impactful missions of the 501st Legion and their captain Rex during and after the Clone War.
Military File: 501st Legion
The 501st Legion was under the commander of Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Commander Ahsoka Tano, Captain Rex (CT-7567) throughout the Clone Wars. The company led many successful campaigns across the galaxy. On Naboo, members of the 501st prevented an epidemic of the Blue Shadow Virus; on Kamino, the 501st Legion led the successful defense of the clone creation factores and cadet training facilities; on both Christophsis and Umbara, Captain Rex and his platoon discovered informants for the Separatists within their ranks; and during the Siege of Mandalore, Ahsoka Tano led a detachment of 501st clones against the tyranny of Maul. While these are not all of the episodes involving the 501st Legion, they are the ones that give the most depth to its members. Central themes and motifs include discovery one’s personal identity, comradery & brotherhood, the life of a soldier, duty & honor, the price of freedom, strength of leadership, and self-sacrifice.
CW 116 – The Hidden Enemy
CW 301 – Clone Cadets
CW 105 – Rookies
CW 210 – The Deserter
CW 302 – Arc Troopers
CW 407 – Darkness of Umbara
CW 408 – The General
CW 409 – Plan of Dissent
CW 410 – Carnage of Krell
CW 601 – The Unknown
CW 602 – Conspiracy
CW 603 – Fugitive
CW 604 – Orders
CW Specials – The Bad Batch (specials only available on starwars.com)
CW Specials – A Distant Echo
CW Specials – On the Wings of Keeradaks
CW Specials – Unfinished Business
The Veteran Soldier
Rex, along with his “brothers” Wolffe and Gregor, had been the only clones to remove their inhibitor chips prior to Order 66. Then, after the birth of the Empire, the three clones refused decommissioning or becoming military instructors for the first generation of Stormtroopers. Sixteen years after the end of the Clone War, the Ghost Crew was tasked by Ahsoka Tano to retrieve an aged Captain Rex from his exile on the planet Seelos. Rex became a major asset to the Ghost Crew, although his relationship with Kanan Jarrus had a very rough start. The apparent loss of Ahsoka Tano distressed Rex deeply, but he remained a member of the Ghost Crew throughout the entirety of the Galactic Civil War, even participating in the Battle of Endor. As with the previous selection of episodes, the ones below are the ones with the most relevance to the character of Captain Rex. The life of war veteran, including post traumatic stress disorder, mistreatment by society, inability to cope outside of the battlefield, and other commonalities, is the principle motif of these episodes.
Rebels 203 The Lost Commanders
Rebels 204 Relics of the Old Republic
Rebels 205 Stealth Strike
Rebels 306 The Last Battle
GREAT NEWS! The Clone Wars animated show is returning for 12 final episodes in 2019. We already know that some, if not, most of the episodes will focus on the Siege of Mandalore which took place concurrently with the events of Revenge of the Sith. In addition, Star Wars Resistance is set to release on October 7th. So expected updates to existing guides and entirely new ones in the future.
About the Author
Joshua Sosa is a New Yorker, born and raised, who has guest hosted on different podcasts such as Focused Fire Chat – A Destiny Lore Podcast, The Tolkien Road, and also even Echo Base. He also contributes to The Lore Network, a cross-cultural blog under the umbrella of Focused Fire Chat. As a self-proclaimed mythologist-in-training, with a B.A. in Classical Studies from CUNY Hunter College, Josh spends of his time writing notes and ideas pertaining to comparative mythology & storytelling with hopes of one day publishing scholarly essays.
Josh has an interest in a number of different franchises including Star Wars, Tolkien’s Legendarium, J.K. Rowling Wizarding World, A Song of Ice & Fire, Godzilla, Doctor Who, Westworld, and much more. He is both an avid reader and gamer, with a somewhat “home-body” disposition, who enjoys his coffee, Chillhop Lo-Fi jazz music, and some good anime. You can find Josh on Twitter @chattingmyth or on the Random Chatter Discord server @Josh[Demigod]. Feel free to message him whenever you want to discuss myth and storytelling in Star Wars or other forms of storytelling.