The Road to Episode Infinity: TV Shows Ranked

A couple weeks ago I posted a poll that showed the popularity of these seven Star Wars TV shows, so why would I bother ranking them (especially in an order that contradicts the posted polls)? One reason is that I feel that some of these shows are underrated and overlooked (such as The Freemaker Adventures) and some of these shows are simply overrated (*cough* The Clone Wars *cough*). So bear with me as I present my personal ranking and explain myself.

#6 Ewoks & Droids Adventure Hour

In my youth, I would sometimes get up very early in the morning before school to watch “Ewoks” & “Droids”. In 1985 the two series aired back to back and in 1986 “Ewoks” continued with a second season. Lucas must not have been too excited about the success of either of these series considering it would be 17 years before he would launch another Star Wars cartoon. It is notable that Boba Fett appeared in an episode of “Droids” (his second animated appearance after the Star Wars Holiday Special).

#5 Forces of Destiny

I love this show. The two seasons of “Forces of Destiny” can be viewed as thirty-one 2-minite episodes or as four 20-minute volumes. The only difference is that the volumes include linked narration by Maz Kanata which kind of ties all the episodes together. “Forces of Destiny” is also a multi-media project that includes dolls, books, and comics. The aim of “Forces of Destiny” is to get more young females invested in Star Wars, but the episodes can be readily enjoyed by anyone.

#4 The Clone Wars

Most fans will disagree with me placing “The Clone Wars” at #4 on the list, but the truth is that I find this series pretty boring. My main issue with the series is that there isn’t one protagonist. It sort of jumps from character to character and the episodes are sometimes presented out of order. Even though that style seems to work with “Forces of Destiny”, it seems to hinder “Clone Wars”. It’s hard for a half-hour show to hold my interests without some sort of character development. Currently, I have seen half the episodes in this series and feel no need to go back and watch the rest. Fans say that the main character of this series is Ahsoka Tano, so perhaps Ahsoka is the key to understanding the love for this series. Maybe if I went back and exclusively watched the Ahsoka episodes, I would see some type of character arc that this series is in serious need of.

#3 The Freemaker Adventures

I understand that many fans don’t watch “The Freemaker Adventures”. It’s a non-canonical Lego series that is pretty far off the radar of adult Star Wars fans. Many would assume that this series has no weight to it, but those people would be wrong. “The Freemaker Adventures” is a fast-paced adventure series with a continuous plotline that is a whole lot of fun. It even sheds light on some serious Star Wars mythology. The characters are compelling, the cameos are effective, and the show is not as pointless as many people would imagine. The series takes place during “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi” and the final episode takes place during the Battle of Endor. Check it out, it’s good stuff.

#2 Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars

This 2003 traditionally animated series has only gotten better with age. I really can’t say enough about how visually amazing this series is. Episodes in the first two seasons are about 3-4 minutes long and the third season has five episodes 12-13 minutes in length. The rewatch value of these episodes is pretty high and every fan should go back every 3 or 4 years and take another look at this show. Though these episodes are not really in the Star Wars “canon”, they can be seen as kind of a hyper-real version of events (ie, Mace Windu takes down an entire legion of Super Battle droids by himself in Chapter 13). If you don’t think you have the time to watch all of this series at least watch the Assaj Ventress storyline (Episodes 6, 7, 11, 17, 18, 19). I think you’ll find that it is worth your time.

#1 Rebels

There is no doubt in my mind that “Rebels” belongs on the top of this list. This is the most-focused of any Star Wars TV-show. The series provides a core group of characters that the audience follows for the four-seasons and the amount of character development in those four seasons is actually astounding. This is the one show on this list that can be enjoyed by the vast majority of fans and non-fans as well. As far as I am concerned Rebels is the gold standard for any Star Wars series that follows it: Give us characters we love, put them through tough times, and let us watch what happens. The ending of “Rebels” doesn’t leave everything wrapped up in a pretty little bow. In fact the fact that the final minutes is a “non-ending” seems like a bold move for a cartoon. Yet it is a move that fans can get behind. Fans know that these characters have a future. That we will someday see the return of Ezra, Sabine, Hera, Chopper and Zeb (In one form of media or another). This is a signal to fans that the events of Rebels do not happen in a vacuum. The events of this story will influence future Star Wars tales. Maybe that’s the secret ingredient of Star Wars. The story is never really over.

The Future

With Rebels wrapping up this Spring, the baton is passed to the new animated show "Resistance". Fans are also looking forward to the first live action Star Wars show, which will probably premiere in the fall of 2019. Fans haven't always had TV shows to help them through the gaps in between the Star Wars films. Now that the gaps between Star Wars films are not even that large (only 6 months between TLJ and Solo) it can feel like homework to keep up with all the comics, books, and TV series. Therefore it is vital that the Star Wars TV delivers high quality content that tries new things. Can future series hold the attention of fans, even the casual ones? I imagine that question will be answered when the live action show hits our screens next fall. Until then, happy watching!

The Road to Episode Infinity

Sunday, May 20, 2018

TV Shows Ranked

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