I’ve loved Star Wars for as long as I can remember. I don’t even remember a time before I knew what Star Wars was. Yet, I married a woman who wasn’t born geek. I’ve been nerdifying her and she’s devoured a lot of the things I’ve put in front of her. Of them all, she’s enjoyed Star Trek the most, because if its expansive, comprehensive universe of storytelling that’s spanned all four series we’ve watched together. However, without any exposure to books, comics, or video games, she doesn’t have the same Extended Universe excited for Star Wars. In a last-ditch effort, I showed her the first episode of Rebels. She loved it. We watched it all and at Star Wars Celebration VII, we saw the trailers and sneak peeks for season two. She asked me about the clones and Ahsoka. I tried to tell her, but there’s just too much. I decided it was time to show her Clone Wars. Like a fool, I wanted to start at the beginning. The movie was as dreadful as I remember, and it took a solid month for me to convince her to give Clone Wars another try, this time through the troopers. We Watched “Clone Cadets” (S03E01), “Rookies” (S01E05), and “ARC Troopers” (S03E02). Instant hits. We jumped from there to The Citadel (S03E18-S03E20), thinking it would be good to keep the focus on the troopers. But it didn’t work. She was upset about the fate of Domino Squad.
Since then, I’ve resolved to break down the entire show by Narrative Story Arcs. There are six major narratives that run through the show: Troopers, Mandalore, Ahsoka, Scum (Pirates & Bounty Hunters), Sith (Asajj, Maul, Savage), Anakin, and Politics. A handful of other episodes don’t fall under any of these categories, but are still fun (Gascon’s D-Squad, the Zillo Beast, etc.). Below you’ll find two lists. The first list is a viewing list for the entire show ordered and arranged to focus on narrative growth. The second list consist of narrative groupings. If my wife says “Sabine is awesome, I really just want to know more about Mandalore,” then we can just jump directly to the MANDALORE narrative group.
VIEWING IN ORDER
SEASON ONE
Intro to Troopers (TROOPERS)
s03e01
s01e05
s03e02
S01E01 – Intro to Asajj (SITH)
s01e08 – Rodian Senator Onaconda (POLITICS)
Hondo Intro (SCUM)
S01E11
s01e12
s02e17
Ahsoka & Aayla vs. Peace (AHSOKA)
s01e13
s01e14
s01e15 – Senator Riyo Chuchi & The Talz (POLITICS)
s01e16 – The Hidden Enemy (TROOPERS)
SEASON TWO
Cad Bane – Holocron Heist (SCUM)
s02e01
s02e02
s02e03
Rush Clovis Intro (ANAKIN)
s02e04
s02e05
Ahsoka & Friend Barris vs. ZOMBIES (AHSOKA)
s02e06
s02e07
s02e08
s02e10 – The Deserter (TROOPERS)
s02e11 – Lightsaber Lost (AHSOKA)
Death Watch (MANDALORE)
s02e12
s02e13
s02e14
s02e15 – Poisoned Senators (POLITICS)
Boba Fett Intro (SCUM)
s02e20
s02e21
s02e22
SEASON THREE
s03e03 – Toydarian Plea (POLITICS)
s03e04 – Saving Papanoida’s Family (POLITICS)
Corruption on Mandalore (MANDALORE)
s03e05
s03e06
s03e07 – Assassination Attempt on Padme (POLITICS)
Cad Bane Intro & Ziro Series (SCUM)
s03e08
s01e22
s03e09
Peace Talks (POLITICS)
s03e10
s03e11
Asajj is Discharged (SITH)
s03e12
s03e13
s03e14
The Citadel (TROOPERS/ANAKIN)
s03e18
s03e19
s03e20
Ahsoka the Savior (AHSOKA)
s03e21
s03e22
SEASON FOUR
General Pong Krell (TROOPERS)
s04e07
s04e08
s04e09
s04e10
s04e14 – Lux Bonteri (POLITICS)
Obi-Wan the Bounty Hunter (SCUM)
e04e15
s04e16
s04e17
s04e18
Dathomirians Scattered (SITH)
s04e19
s04e20
e04e21
s04e22
s05e01
SEASON FIVE
Ahsoka the Leader (AHSOKA)
s05e02
s05e03
s05e04
s05e05
Hondo & Ahsoka (AHSOKA/SCUM)
s05e06
s05e07
s05e08
s05e09
Enter Maul & Savage (SITH/MANDALORE)
s05e14
s05e15
s05e16
Ahsoka & Barriss Together Again (AHSOKA)
s05e17
e05e18
s05e19
s05e20
SEASON SIX
Good Soldiers Follow Orders (TROOPERS)
s06e01
s06e02
s06e03
s06e04
Clovis in Charge (ANAKIN)
s06e05
s06e06
s06e07
Jar-Jar, Queen Lover (POLITICS)
s06e08
e06e09
THE END (FINALE)
s06e10
s06e11
s06e12
s06e13
VIEWING BY STORY
TROOPERS
Intro to Troopers
s03e01
s01e05
s03e02
s01e16 – The Hidden Enemy
s02e10 – The Deserter
The Citadel
s03e18
s03e19
s03e20
General Pong Krell
s04e07
s04e08
s04e09
s04e10
Good Soldiers Follow Orders
s06e01
s06e02
s06e03
s06e04
MANDALORE
Death Watch
s02e12
s02e13
s02e14
s04e14 – Lux Bonteri (AFTER POLITICS>PEACE TALKS)
Corruption on Mandalore
s03e05
s03e06
Enter Maul & Savage
s05e14
s05e15
s05e16
AHSOKA
Ahsoka & Aayla vs. Peace
s01e13
s01e14
Ahsoka & Friend Barris vs. ZOMBIES
s02e06
s02e07
s02e08
s02e11 – Lightsaber Lost
Ahsoka the Savior
s03e21
s03e22
Ahsoka the Leader
s05e02
s05e03
s05e04
s05e05
Hondo & Ahsoka
s05e06
s05e07
s05e08
s05e09
Ahsoka & Barriss Together Again
s05e17
e05e18
s05e19
s05e20
SCUM
Hondo Intro
S01E11
s01e12
s02e17
Cad Bane – Holocron Heist
s02e01
s02e02
s02e03
Boba Fett Intro
s02e20
s02e21
s02e22
Cad Bane – Ziro Series
s03e08
s01e22
s03e09
Obi-Wan the Bounty Hunter
e04e15
s04e16
s04e17
s04e18
Hondo & Ahsoka
s05e06
s05e07
s05e08
s05e09
SITH
S01E01 – Intro to Asajj
Asajj is Discharged
s03e12
s03e13
s03e14
Dathomirians Scattered
s04e19
s04e20
e04e21
s04e22
s05e01
On Mandalore
s05e14
s05e15
s05e16
ANAKIN’S JEALOUSY
Rush Clovis Intro
s02e04
s02e05
Mortis
s03e15
s03e16
s03e17
Clovis in Charge
s06e05
s06e06
s06e07
POLITICS
s01e08 – Rodian Senator Onaconda
s01e15 – Senator Riyo Chuchi & The Talz
s02e15 – Poisoned Senators
s03e03 – Toydarian Plea
s03e04 – Saving Papanoida’s Family
s03e07 – Assassination Attempt on Padme
Peace Talks
s03e10
s03e11
Jar-Jar, Queen Lover
s06e08
e06e09
DROIDS & ADVENTURES
Goldie & Greivous’ Lair
S01E06
S01E07
s01e09
s01e10
Blue Shadow Virus
s01e17
s01e18
Battle of Ryloth
s01e19
s01e20
s01e21
s02e09 – Chasing Greivous
The Zillo Beast
s02e18
s02e19
Battle of Mon Calamari
s04e01
s04e02
s04e03
Wolfpack & Droids
s04e05
s04e06
Zygerrian Slavers (Maybe Ahsoka)
s04e11
s04e12
s04e13
Colonel Gascon & D-Squad
s05e10
s05e11
s05e12
s05e13
THE END
s06e10
s06e11
s06e12
s06e13