
In addition to continued rumors of a forthcoming side-story feature film slated to stand beside Rogue One and Solo, Disney confirmed the date of the second season of the live action western-themed "The Mandalorian" (which I'll mention later), a sequel to Star Wars: Rebels, as well as a new "female-centered" animated series.
In the dismal aftermath of the debacle of Star Wars: Resistance, fans of all stripes must admit that all of these endeavors do indeed seem promising, and no shock here...have fired up the hardcore Star Wars geek-base.
If you recall, the Gauntlet last focused on Star Wars: The Mandalorian early in December 2019, prior to the conclusion of the first season. That article ("What We've Learned From Star Wars: The Mandalorian, So Far...") can be found at: http://www.gauntletofbalthazar.com/2019/12/from-writers-studio-what-weve-learned.html

I'm not sure if the so-called "female-centered" animated series will also feature an older Ahsoka (and Sabine and Rex), or if this is some virtue-signalling "The Force is Female" Intersectional endeavor that will focus on stereotypical feminist tropes in exchange for botched story content, but we'll see. Let's hope that our faith in David Filoni and Jon Favreau has not been misplaced! And let us never forget that irregardless of the inept attempts at patriarchy-bashing, Star Wars, even when it was "The Last Star-Fighter" script in 1974, was never sexist or racist. I mean, hello, calling Princess Leia...the boss.
Anyway, what has been released in its entirety is an additional season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series. The Clone Wars originally aired from 2008-2014 for six seasons, and though I am no great fan of animation, the series put the live action films, such as Star Wars: The Revenge of the Sith to shame. The two main reasons I think the series was so successful over the film in question is one; the pacing of Anakin Skywalker's descent into the hands of Chancellor Palpatine / Darth Sidious, and two; the focus on characters not featured in the Lukas prequel films - particularly Clone Captain Rex and Anakin Skywalker's erstwhile pupil Ahsoka Tano.

Interestingly, Ahsoka makes her way back to the Jedi's by episode nine, but does not officially rejoin the order, which, like her original break from Anakin, et al, could easily suggest that this is the reason she was not slain with the other Jedi during Order 66. However, it seems once a Jedi, always a Jedi, at least to the Sith.
Ironically it is Ahsoka who is leader of the assault on Mandalore, forcing the Republic to break hundreds of years of Mandalorian neutrality by having the Clones interfere in the Mandalorian Civil War between the Adherents of Darth Maul and the loyalists and militant Death Watch faction. In the end, one could easily blame Ahsoka for the later occupation (and destruction) of Mandalore by the Empire, as the Clones invasion occurs literally days before the demise of the Jedi and reorganization of the Republic into the Galactic Empire. Soon the Clones would be replaced by the Storm-troopers, and well, you know.

In the end the tragic fate of Anakin, the dissolution of the Republic, and Ahsoka and Rex's flight into exile makes the conclusion of Clone Wars not just saddening, but it is a near perfect literary bow on the top of the circular story-telling of the endless cyclical struggle between Jedi and Sith, the light and the dark, good versus evil, etc., etc.
In other words, if you're a Star Wars fan: see it!
Till next time.
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