The Clone Wars viewing guide: How to watch the series chronologically arc-by-arc

 

Star Wars: The Clone Wars premiered on Cartoon Network 10 years ago today, and over the next six seasons the show told some incredible stories that have had a lasting impact on the Star Wars saga. While each 22-minute episode can technically stand on its own, the show increasingly told its stories in two-to-five episode arcs which, when watched in one sitting, feel like a complete Star Wars film. In fact, Lucasfilm often edited arc episodes together for special screenings, and any fan will tell you that arc-by-arc is the best way to experience the show.

With The Clone Wars being revived for another season, now is the perfect time to rewatch the fantastic series—or experience it for the first time. StarWars.com has a great chronological viewing guide for the series (since the episodes occasionally aired out of order), but unless you’re an expert it’s often difficult to know how many episodes to watch at a time. To help you plan your binge watching sessions, Ion Cannon Podcast and Star Wars Report present the definitive viewing guide for The Clone Wars, ordered chronologically and grouped by arc.

Updates:
5/3/20 — With Season 7 now streaming on Disney+, we’ve updated our viewing guide below with the new episodes.
4/26/21 — Updated the placement of Ahsoka’s Walkabout based on the latest from StarWars.com.

Ep.   .
Title

The Battle of Christophsis

216 Cat and Mouse
116 Hidden Enemy
T The Clone Wars theatrical release

Domino Squad: Part I

301 Clone Cadets

Toydaria Duology

303 Supply Lines
101 Ambush

Malevolence Trilogy

102 Rising Malevolence
103 Shadow of Malevolence
104 Destroy Malevolence

Domino Squad: Part II

105 Rookies

The Rescue of R2-D2

106 Downfall of a Droid
107 Duel of the Droids

The Capture of Nute Gunray

108 Bombad Jedi
109 Cloak of Darkness
110 Lair of Grievous

Dooku Duology

111 Dooku Captured
112 The Gungan General

Aayla Secura Duology

113 Jedi Crash
114 Defenders of Peace

Trespass

115 Trespass

The Blue Shadow Virus Duology

117 Blue Shadow Virus
118 Mystery of a Thousand Moons

Ryloth Trilogy

119 Storm over Ryloth
120 Innocents of Ryloth
121 Liberty on Ryloth

Holocron Trilogy

201 Holocron Heist
202 Cargo of Doom
203 Children of the Force

Bounty Hunters

217 Bounty Hunters

The Zillo Beast Duology

218 The Zillo Beast
219 The Zillo Beast Strikes Back

The Second Battle of Geonosis

204 Senate Spy
205 Landing at Point Rain
206 Weapons Factory
207 Legacy of Terror
208 Brain Invaders

Pursuit of Grievous

209 Grievous Intrigue
210 The Deserter

Lightsaber Lost

211 Lightsaber Lost

The Mandalore Trilogy

212 The Mandalore Plot
213 Voyage of Temptation
214 Duchess of Mandalore

Boba Fett’s Revenge

220 Death Trap
221 R2 Come Home
222 Lethal Trackdown

Corruption on Mandalore

305 Corruption
306 The Academy

Assassin

307 Assassin

Domino Squad: Part III

302 ARC Troopers

Sphere of Influence

304 Sphere of Influence

The Ziro Trilogy

308 Evil Plans
122 Hostage Crisis
309 Hunt for Ziro

The Senate Trilogy

310 Heroes on Both Sides
311 Pursuit of Peace
215 Senate Murders

The Nightsisters Trilogy

312 Nightsisters
313 Monster
314 Witches of the Mist

The Mortis Trilogy

315 Overlords
316 Altar of Mortis
317 Ghosts of Mortis

The Citadel Trilogy

318 The Citadel
319 Counter Attack
320 Citadel Rescue

Hunted

321 Padawan Lost
322 Wookiee Hunt

The Battle of Mon Cala

401 Water War
402 Gungan Attack
403 Prisoners

Shadow Warrior

404 Shadow Warrior

The Droid Adventure

405 Mercy Mission
406 Nomad Droids

The Umbara Arc

407 Darkness on Umbara
408 The General
409 Plan of Dissent
410 Carnage of Krell

The Zygerrian Slavers

411 Kidnapped
412 Slaves of the Republic
413 Escape from Kadavo

A Friend In Need

414 A Friend In Need

Crisis on Naboo

415 Deception
416 Friends and Enemies
417 The Box
418 Crisis on Naboo

The Return

419 Massacre
420 Bounty
421 Brothers
422 Revenge

Onderon Arc

502 A War on Two Fronts
503 Front Runners
504 The Soft War
505 Tipping Points

The Young Jedi

506 The Gathering
507 A Test of Strength
508 Bound for Rescue
509 A Necessary Bond

D-Squad

510 Secret Weapons
511 A Sunny Day in the Void
512 Missing in Action
513 Point of No Return

Shadow Conspiracy

501 Revival
514 Eminence
515 Shades of Reason
516 The Lawless

Ahsoka Arc

517 Sabotage
518 The Jedi Who Knew Too Much
519 To Catch a Jedi
520 The Wrong Jedi

Orders Arc

601 The Unknown
602 Conspiracy
603 Fugitive
604 Orders

The Clovis Trilogy

605 An Old Friend
606 The Rise of Clovis
607 Crisis at the Heart

The Disappeared Duology

608 The Disappeared
609 The Disappeared: Pt. II

Yoda Arc

610 The Lost One
611 Voices
612 Destiny
613 Sacrifice

Crystal Crisis On Utapau Story Reels

U A Death on Utapau
U In Search of the Crystal
U Crystal Crisis
U The Big Bang

Ahsoka’s Walkabout

705 Gone With a Trace
706 Deal No Deal
707 Dangerous Debt
708 Together Again

The Bad Batch Story Reels

701(U) The Bad Batch
702(U) A Distant Echo
703(U) On the Wings of Keeradaks
704(U) Unfinished Business

Dark Disciple Novel: Part I

U Lethal Alliance
U The Mission
U Conspirators
U Dark Disciple

Son of Dathomir Comic Series

U The Enemy of My Enemy
U A Tale of Two Apprentices
U Proxy War
U Showdown on Dathomir

Dark Disciple Novel: Part II

U Saving Vos Part 1
U Saving Vos Part 2
U Traitor
U The Path

Siege of Mandalore

709 Old Friends Not Forgotten
710 The Phantom Apprentice
711 Shattered
712 Victory and Death

For completeness, we’ve also included the five four unaired arcs (U) which were released in various mediums after the series was canceled, consisting of two unfinished story reels, a comic mini-series, and a novel. One of the unfinished story reels was re-released in finished form for the series seventh and final season on Disney+ seven years later.

Thanks to StarWars.com for laying the groundwork with their chronological viewing guide.

Author: William Devereux

William Devereux is the Editor-in-Chief of the Star Wars Report and one of the hosts of the Ion Cannon podcast. When he’s not talking about Star Wars, he works at Microsoft as a Product Manager.

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