The Star Wars Story That Made The Prequels Worth It
And why every fan should read the lost Clone Wars episodes...
The year is 2019, and somehow, in some wonderful chain of events, The Clone Wars animated series is returning. Now most Star Wars fans probably aren't all that fussed about the news, given the overall attitude towards the Prequels and the fact that the show isn't live-action, but it is positive.
As one of the few redeeming aspects of George Lucas' ill-fated Prequel Trilogy (another being Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan, Republic Commando and of course the venerable Elan Sleazebaggano), The Clone Wars managed to win the affections of die hard Star Wars fans to the point that, when it was cancelled, there was a sizeable outcry. Come 2014, the prequels were out, and the Original Trilogy was in.
However, over the course of the last couple of years the Prequel Trilogy has experienced something of a resurgence. Whether it be the odd reappraisal here and there or through online contingents rallying behind an ostensibly misunderstood Star Wars era, they're mounting a comeback. It's potentially fitting, then, that it's happening in 2019, 20 years after the release of Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
But I digress, because this article isn't here to talk about Jar Jar Binks, midichlorians or even remonstrate on the qualities of sand. Instead, it's time to talk about Dark Disciple, a Del Rey novel released in 2014 that managed to exemplify the promise of the prequels at a time when pretty much no one was even remotely bothered about them. It was a canon story, compiled from a 'lost' arc that would've aired had The Clone Wars not been cancelled, and yet it was twice as compelling as the material depicted in Episodes I-III - at least in terms of broaching the kinds of themes those films only touched on, but that were never explored thoroughly.
To a degree, and for all the flaws the prequels did have, Star Wars fans have seen elements deployed in interesting ways recently, none more so than in Christie Golden's novel, Dark Disciple, about a failed Jedi Plot to assassinate Count Dooku near the end of the Clone Wars...