Lucasfilm has released a clip teasing the upcoming season premiere of its CGI Star Wars drama.
This new clip from episode one of the upcoming fifth season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars depicts the start of one of the major sub-plots of the season. Darth Maul, freshly rescued and cyborged, is working to build up his own army of ne’r-do-wells and criminals.
The first step seems to be securing an allegiance with the Black Sun, one of the criminal organizations in the Star Wars universe, not as well-known as The Huts, but more powerful, and with more resources. Getting Black Sun behind his plans will be a huge step up for Maul. Of course, he has a rocky relationship with the organization, as he attempted to take them down, under orders of Palpatine, a while back. Thus the less-than-cordial reception:
This new season will see the fight against the separatists become a distraction from what will become the true threat later, the gathering of Sith forces in an underground movement led by Darth Maul. We also see Anakin start to get angrier, and to let that anger begin to control him, much more sympathetically and interestingly than the brief description in the films.
We don’t have an official synopsis, but in an interview last month with Entertainment Weekly, Clone Wars showrunner Dave Filoni summarized the new season as follows:
“We’ve got some critical set-up this season to explore why the Sith triumph, why the Empire replaces the Republic, the kind of things that fans have always wondered about regarding this period. What do people really think of the Jedi?
“How is it that Palpatine had the Jedi eliminated and the galactic populace seems fine with that? What does it mean when Mace Windu walks in to the Chancellor’s office and tries to arrest him? Would the people be for that or against that? Palpatine makes it look like the Jedi launched a coup. How is it that people would accept such an explanation?”
There is also this trailer for the season:
The Clone Wars tells the story that was left greatly underserved by the films: Anakin’s days as a general in the Clone Wars, and it’s been doing a fantastic job. I can honestly say I enjoy The Clone Wars more than any other non-film Star Wars production, and even more than a few of the films themselves, and the most recent season was the best yet, with lots of great revelations and interesting character moments.
With the announcement at the end of last season, by Lucas himself, that the Clone Wars shows are top level canon – a level previously only occupied by the six films – Clone Wars is more important than ever, and any Star Wars fans should make sure they are watching. Not just because it clears up so much great, underserved storyline, but also because it’s just an excellent show.
The premiere of season five of Star Wars: The Clone Wars will air September 29th, 2012 and the season will continue each Saturday on Cartoon Network
