Growing Up Skywalker

Cue the tears. In the long-awaited (first) finale of The Clone Wars (5.19–20), enemies turn to friends…friends turn to enemies…and we cry a LOT. In our recap of the end of Season 5, we ask so many questions. Why does Ahsoka choose to leave the Jedi Order? What are Barriss’s motivations? Where was Luminara in all of this? Did Anakin suddenly become relatable? And most importantly — what have the Cl...

Fire up your righteous indignation. We’re recapping the Jedi Temple Bombing Arc (The Clone Wars 5.17–18) and seeing Ahsoka framed for murder. The Clone Wars is continuing to snap the pieces together to make a bridge between Episodes 2 and 3. In our recap, we talk about how the clones who once trusted and deferred to Ahsoka so quickly turn against her; the Jedi’s nosediving reputation; Jedi funeral...

Alexa, play “Taps.” The body count in the second half of the Revenge Arc might not be as high as the Umbara Arc. But as Mandalore descends into civil war and political leaders become cannon fodder, it feels like this is just the start of something bigger. In our recap of The Clone Wars 5.15–16, “Shades of Reason” and “The Lawless,” we dissect both spectacular darksaber duels blow-by-blow. We talk...

Buckle in, kiddos: It’s time for REVENGE. In the first half of the Revenge Arc (The Clone Wars 5.1 + 5.14, “Revival” and “Eminence”) Maul and Savage almost manage to take over Hondo Ohnaka’s pirate crew, but then very nearly become fishsticks floating in space. Then they effortlessly raise an army of terrifying criminals and set out to help Death Watch take over Mandalore — maybe. In our recap, we...

What do you get when you cross a clone, a bad case of amnesia, and 10,000 canisters of Rhydonium? The second half of the D-Squad Arc, that’s what you get. This week, we’re recapping The Clone Wars 5.12–13, “Missing in Action” and “Point of No Return”, a.k.a. two episodes that debuted at the top of Anna’s Cry-O-Meter. We meet Gregor, a MIA clone commando who has to embark on a hero’s journey to rec...

The lack of a reliable file-sharing system in Star Wars comes into play once again in the D-Squad Arc (The Clone Wars 5.10–11, "Secret Weapons" and "A Sunny Day in the Void"). It turns out that this critically-panned series of episodes is a fascinating meditation on inequality, oppression, meritocracy, the military-industrial complex, and why WAC units are indeed so wack. In our recap this week, w...

Hondo Ohnaka has a no-good, very bad day during the second half of the Ahsoka + Younglings arc (The Clone Wars 5.8–9, “Bound for Rescue” and “A Necessary Bond”). Our dashing crew of younglings have to infiltrate a traveling carnival to rescue Ahsoka from Hondo Ohnaka’s base — which Grievous promptly overruns. In our recap, we talk about all the ways Hondo Ohnaka would disappoint us if he was our u...

Hold onto your lightsabers, because Hondo Ohnaka is coming for them. In the first half of the Ahsoka + Younglings arc (The Clone Wars 5.6–7, “The Gathering” and “A Test of Strength”) we meet a crew of Jedi younglings who find their very own kyber crystals — just in time to almost lose them to Hondo’s pirate gang. (And they actually DO lose Ahsoka.) But don’t worry. Petro, Katooni, Ganodi, Zatt, By...

They never said revolution would be easy. In the final half of the Onderon Arc (The Clone Wars 5.4–5, “The Soft War” and “Tipping Points”) we see that Onderon’s rebels are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to throw off Separatist rule. In our recap, we talk about the rightful king, Dendup, and why he’s the worst. (Steela Gerrera 4 Queen of Onderon.) We figure out how you can successfully make...

Hot on the heels of our arc about brotherhood, we have another sibling story — and this time, it’s about Saw and Steela Gerrera. Our recap of the first half of the Onderon Arc (The Clone Wars 5.2–3, “A War on Two Fronts” and “Front Runners”) throws us into a rebellion of Anakin’s making. There is a fantastic training montage, a sort of meh love triangle between Ahsoka, Steela and Lux, and a deligh...

We have so much to celebrate this episode! The Asajj + Maul Arc, Part 2 marks the end of Season Four of the Clone Wars…our 50th episode…our one-year anniversary as a podcast…and May the 4th (Be With You). We’re so excited to have Tim Beisiegel of Funny Science Fiction Podcast and Pop Culture Addicts on the show with us. Tim has been a champion of Growing Up Skywalker from the beginning, and it was...

Buckle in, kiddos, because we’re headed to Dathomir. In the first half of the Asajj and Maul arc, Asajj renounces her ties to the Sith and pledges herself to the Nightsisters. Cue Dooku losing his dang mind. We talk about loyalty, betrayal, witchy covens, catharsis, and Asajj’s four life-altering transformations: slave to Jedi, Jedi to Sith, Sith to Nightsister, and Nightsister to outcast. Somehow...

Did you know that Star Wars has a bounty hunter-themed reality TV show in the middle of Season Four? Who knew! Shenanigans continue in the second half of the Rako Hardeen arc (The Clone Wars 4.17–18) as Dooku whittles down 12 of the galaxy’s greatest bounty hunters to five. It’s a race against time — and Anakin’s impatience — as Obi-Wan tries to thwart Dooku’s plans to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine....

The first half of the Rako Hardeen arc (The Clone Wars 4.15–16) is a romp, y’all. Obi-Wan goes undercover as a hardened criminal to sabotage a plot against Chancellor Palpatine as the entire galaxy believes him to be dead. He hooks up with Cad Bane — who can be threatening even when he’s only armed with a toothpick — and tries to outrun Anakin and Ahsoka, on the warpath for vengeance. We talk abou...

“A Friend in Need” (The Clone Wars 4.14) is the last standalone episode of The Clone Wars series, and boy howdy is it chock-full of discussion topics. In 22 minutes, we see Ahsoka reunited with her BOYFRIEND Lux Bonteri, watch the Separatist-Republic peace talks disintegrate (again), meet up with Death Watch, see Bo-Katan for the first time, witness R2D2 raise a droid army, and see an entire villa...

The Zygerrian Arc of the Clone Wars (4.11–13, “Kidnapped,” “Slaves of the Republic,” and “Escape from Kadavo”) begs us to consider: Who are the real slaves under the Republic? In this three-part arc, we see Anakin, Ahsoka and Kenobi struggle to free the Togrutan people of Kiros from being condemned to a life in chains. There are heists, spies, infiltration plots, fake names, fake imprisonment (plu...

Betrayal has a long legacy in Star Wars, and in the final half of the Umbaran arc (The Clone Wars 4.9–10) we come face-to-face with one of the galaxy's greatest traitors. In our recap of “Plan of Dissent” and “Carnage of Krell,” we put the spotlight on the 501st. Through heartbreak, sacrifice and betrayal, they go against their beliefs, have existential crises, and eventually learn to find their o...

No more fun and games. We’re getting down to business in the first half of the Umbaran Arc (The Clone Wars 4.7–8). When’s the last time you read the Geneva Convention? Because war crimes abound on Umbara, especially after Anakin is sent home to Coruscant mid-invasion and the 501st is put under General Pong Krell — a Besalisk with a VERY bad attitude. We rabbithole into Civil War-era parallels to t...

The R2 and C-3PO arc (The Clone Wars 4.5–6) has the strangest and yet most strangely delightful Clone Wars episodes in a while. We talk about fairytales, magical realism, the Balance, and droid rights/droid supremacy. R2 talks trash to every sovereign leader they meet in the LONGEST episode ever, and in the face of death, 3PO has — for once — a heartfelt moment. This arc is an actual fever dream,...

“Shadow Warrior” (The Clone Wars Season 4.4) is one giant, beautiful retribution for Star Wars’ treatment of the Gungans thus far. As Jar Jar is forced to impersonate Boss Lyonie to keep his people from going to war against the Naboo, we (finally) get to see the Gungans step into the light. We get fierce Gungan warriors, ancestral Gungan magic, a fantastic callback to Padmé’s switcheroos in the Ph...

Surf’s up! The first arc of Season 4 of the Clone Wars has our faves swimming with the fishes. We’re introduced to yet another teenage monarch — Prince Lee-Char — who’s navigating a civil war between the Mon Calamari and Quarren and orchestrated, as always, by Count Dooku. Kit Fisto is glorious, Padmé and Anakin are mostly there to be threatened with drowning, Ahsoka does Anakin’s job from Attack...

Happy Star Wars Podcast Day! We’re closing out Season 3 of The Clone Wars with the most dangerous game of them all — messing with Ahsoka and her band of misfit Jedi younglings. And we’re thrilled to have Nick Stockbridge of Funny Science Fiction as a guest on this week’s show! In the Ahsoka Hunted arc (The Clone Wars 3.21–22) we meet a group of Trandoshan weekend warriors who like to hunt younglin...

It’s time for a classic Clone Wars mess-around! The Citadel Arc (The Clone Wars 3.18–3.20) has everything: battle droids, ambushes, a rescue mission, carbon freezing, Ugnauts, a phenomenal MacGuffin (the Nexus Route hyperspace lanes), Kenobi banter and a truly astonishing amount of foreshadowing for Anakin’s journey. If you are a Wilhuff Tarkin fan, this is the arc for you. (If you are a no-Jedis-...

Hold onto your Star Wars encyclopedias, because we’re in for the ride of our lives! In the Mortis Arc (The Clone Wars 3.15–17) we get the deepest dive into the lore of the Force so far — and that’s just where the first episode starts. We talk about good, evil, and ambivalence…why wisdom has to be earned to be learned…and all about the family story at the heart of Star Wars. Buckle up, baybees, bec...

The Clone Wars so far has been a series of appetizers, but with the Nightsisters Arc (3.12–14) we’re getting filet mignon, baybee! As Assajj and her witchy sisters plan vengeance on Count Dooku, we’re introduced to Anna’s big sad baby, Savage Opress — and then things get spooky, y’all. We talk about Star Wars steroids, the Rule of Two, identity erasure, unexplainable magic, and the moment when fem...