10 Best Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episodes

2. Shattered

Star Wars The Clone Wars Maul Emperor
Lucasfilm

Shattered, the next episode after The Phantom Apprentice, follows Ahsoka and Rex on the transport ship back to Coruscant after Maul's capture. Along the way, Palpatine executes Order 66, which turns the clones against the Jedi. Ahsoka must defend herself from her friends-turned-enemies, the clones, all while figuring out what's going on and saving Rex from his brothers' fate.

The episode is heartbreaking, with friends' turning on each other. Order 66 misses the mark in Revenge of the Sith since every character involved is underdeveloped, but in Shattered, watching fleshed-out clones try to kill a fleshed-out (former) Jedi hurts much more.

Shattered is also ripe with symbolism, such as a great scene in which a recently released Maul takes on the turned clones as a distraction. In previous episodes, we rooted for the clones and against Maul, but here, their roles are switched. Throughout its run, Shattered turns perspective and "light side" versus "dark side" on its head, giving more depth than ever to Order 66.

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Richard C. Kraus (Richie to pretty much everyone) is an American college student and world record holder for most views of the 2015 film Ant-Man. He aspires to be a screenwriter, actor, and not tired.