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Breaking down the Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 7 trailer: Ahsoka fights Maul!
For six years, Star Wars: The Clone Wars fans have languished in a Clone Wars-less world. Now, as we gear up for the premiere of the series' seventh and final season, we have a new trailer to unpack. As of Wednesday morning, we have a better understanding of what to expect from Season 7. Oh, and a premiere date!
So let's strap in and gear up for a good old-fashioned trailer breakdown.
But first, let's watch it again!
We open with a voiceover from none other than Maul himself. And while much of the seventh season seems to be revolving around Anakin's fall from the Light, it seems safe to say that Maul is the other Big Bad our heroes will be dealing with.
Maul promises that both the Republic and the Jedi will fall. Of course, we already knew that (and what happens after that and after that ...). It's an inevitability, which is partly what makes Maul's voiceover so terrifying.
As many Star Wars fans pointed out, the holo call between Mace Windu, Yoda, a collection of other Jedi, and some Clones that's shown in the new trailer is a direct recreation of a scene in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.
(Side note: Many people have pointed out online that the Padawan and Jedi standing to Mace's right during that roundtable call are none other than a young Kanan Jarus [aka Caleb Dume] and his master Depa Billaba. Kanan would survive Order 66 and go on to work with Hera Syndulla and train both Ezra Bridger and Sabine Wren. So that’s a nice little easter egg there for ya.)
The holo table call paired with a couple of other details indicates just how far into Revenge of the Sith the series might reach.
Another clue is a holo call between Anakin and Padme, in which she is visibly pregnant.
If you'll recall, friends, Anakin doesn't find out Padme is pregnant until the beginning of Revenge of the Sith. She is visibly pregnant in this trailer when he’s speaking with her. So, unless he really is that big a dummy (which … wouldn't be that off base, let's be honest), we'll get to see even more Revenge of the Sith-era scenes play out in animated form. The question is just how much of Anakin’s epic fall we will see.
Of course, a lot of this is moot to many fans because so much of the Star Wars fandom only has eyes for one Jedi. Or, rather, one former Jedi. That would be, of course, Ahsoka Tano, who delivers a line at the beginning of the trailer similar to something Mace once said: "We were trained to be keepers of the peace, not soldiers."
During this, she meets up with Mandalorian warrior Bo-Katan Kryze, and the two shake hands, which, y'know, is a big freakin' deal for many reasons. Biggest of all, showrunner Dave Filoni has promised that Season 7 will finally show fans the much-awaited siege of Mandalore, in which Ahsoka, Rex, and their team of Clones join up with Kryze and her Mandalorians to free Mandalore from Maul's rule.
All of this means insane action sequences. This is also likely when that undoubtedly epic Ahsoka and Maul showdown will happen. Needless to say, folks are hyped about it. I'm hyped about it. We’re all hyped about it!
Wow, guys, there's so much here. The more I write, the more that seems to pop up.
We also get a heart-wrenching line delivery from everyone’s favorite Clone commander, Rex. "We clones have mixed feelings about the war," Rex says over footage of Clones fighting and dying. "Without it, we wouldn't exist."
You can’t tell me you're not thinking of everything we've been through with Rex up until this point. I know I am.
Then we get some flying monster-bat creatures (Star Wars monsters are so good) hauling some folks around. If you’ll recall, Filoni's animatics for the unaired Bad Batch arc had some bat creatures in them. Maybe … that's what these are? (Totally unconfirmed, we're just guessing here. We’re just looking forward to the Bad Batch episodes.)
But Filoni's official breakdown of the Bad Batch arc lines up pretty well with another scene we see of Anakin, lookin' all Dark side, gearing up to take on the spidery Admiral Trench once and for all.
Maul promises in the trailer that "everything is about to change." That's certainly true. "Every choice made has led to this."
As he delivers that final line, we get a rather familiar-looking shot of him addressing Ahsoka right before they engage in battle. He's reaching out a hand to her … And is it just me, or does it almost look like he’s asking her to join him, much as Kylo Ren will do with Rey down the line? Maybe I'm projecting, but it looks pretty dang similar, y’all.
Cue epic lightsaber fight. Cue explosions. Cue Ahsoka's new friends Trace and Rafa Martez. Cue the premiere date!
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 7 premieres on Disney+ on Friday, February 21.
