Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The 5 Best & 5 Worst Episodes Of Season 5 (According To IMDb)

To many fans of the beloved series, there is no finer season in The Clone Wars than season five. It builds on everything that came before it, and some of its content gave way for brilliance to come in the form of comics, books, Rebels, and the final two seasons of the show. It is a mind-bogglingly good season, and the last full length, twenty-plus episode season of the show.

It has two arcs that many fans put in the conversation as the very best and builds on characters like Anakin, Ahsoka, Maul, and Obi-Wan, arguably more than any other season. It is not all perfect, though, as there are a few episodes that fans do not love – as IMDb attests.

10 Worst – “A War On Two Fronts” (7.5)

One thing many fans, especially younger ones today, may forget is the fact that the extremist rebel Saw Gerrera made his debut to the franchise in The Clone Wars, specifically this episode, as a much younger warrior.

The episode sees Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and Rex called to Onderon by the potential romantic interest of Ahsoka, Lux Bonteri. There they train a young band of rebels, including Bonteri, Gerrera, and Gerrera’s sister, so that they can take back the capital city of Iziz from the Separatists. It is the start of a solid arc and a good story.

9 Best – “To Catch A Jedi” (9.0)

There are a handful of arcs fans will always point to as being the elite of the show, the créme de la créme. The Umbara arc, the Mandalorian Takeover arc, the Siege of Mandalore, and a few others, including Ahsoka’s Journey at the end of season five.

“To Catch A Jedi” is the third episode of four in that arc, and has Ahsoka hiding in the criminal underworld where she reluctantly befriends Asajj Ventress before, seemingly out of nowhere, getting attacked by a figure with Ventress’ lightsabers. This attacker pushes Ahsoka over a platform next to crates of nano-droids, where she is captured by Anakin and Plo Koon, who ponder if there is more to the whole plot.

8 Worst – “Missing In Action” (7.3)

In an interview alongside Dave Filoni, George Lucas remarked that this droid-heavy arc was his favorite of The Clone Wars. As much as fans adore George, and as fun and full of heart as this arc is, it is not to everyone’s liking, disliked by a lot of fans according to IMDb.

This episode, “Missing In Action,” is definitely best arguably just because of Gregor alone, a deserted clone who suffers from amnesia and who seemed to go down with a slew of droids, sacrificing himself for D-squad’s mission. That is before he pops up in Rebels.

7 Best – “Shades Of Reason” (9.1)

Before the Siege of Mandalore, the undisputed king of Mandalore arcs, as well as arcs in general to many was this one, which sees the Shadow Collective, and Death Watch, take over rule of Mandalore.

The second of three episodes, “Shades Of Reason,” sees the villainous collaboration hatch a scheme to have Savage and Maul attack Mandalore, with Death Watch acting as saviors to prove Satine as being a weak leader, with many Mandalorians buying it. As well as imprisoning Satine, Death Watch betrays Maul and Savage, imprisoning them before they break out and Maul duels and then kills Pre Vizsla, with half of Death Watch sticking with their new leader, and the others becoming enemies of Maul and the Mauldalorians, with Almec reinstated as puppet Prime Minister.

6 Worst – “Point Of No Return” (7.2)

Staying with the D-squad arc on the worst side of things, “Point Of No Return” is the final episode of the arc and involves a bit more than just the droids and their leader.

The episode sees D-squad uncover a plan to use a sabotaged Jedi cruiser to destroy a Republic conference. Gascon, Artoo, and D-squad are heroes and save the day, with Artoo sacrificing himself, but, of course, Anakin would not let him go that easy.

5 Best – “The Jedi Who Knew Too Much” (9.1)

“The Jedi Who Knew Too Much” comes right before “To Catch A Jedi” and really revs up the story from the first episode of the arc, taking it to a whole new level of severity.

It sees the Republic Military take over the case from the Jedi, with Tarkin out for blood in the form of Ahsoka, who gets framed for killing the witness to the bombings as well as the clone guards, sending her on the run.

4 Worst – “Secret Weapons” (6.5)

Still not managing to escape the worst side of season five on IMDb, the D-squad arc’s first episode is seen as slightly worse than the final one.

The episode sees R2-D2 join the D-squad team led by Gascon, as they get given a mission to steal an encryption module from a Separatist dreadnaught. It is a critical and dangerous assignment.

3 Best – “The Wrong Jedi” (9.6)

“The Wrong Jedi” continue’s Ahsoka’s arc from “To Catch A Jedi” and sees her put to trial by the Jedi Order, banished from the Jedi Order, before going to trial by the Republic.

In a rollercoaster of events, Anakin figures out Barriss Offee is behind everything. The pair duel and Anakin takes her before the court, where she calls out the Jedi for being traitors. Ahsoka is then welcomed into the Order but chooses to walk her own path, without Anakin.

The arc is brilliant and expertly crafted. Seeing Ahsoka walk-off from Anakin as he looks on, clearly in pain, is heartbreaking and is one of the most significant moments in the entire show, as, with the lack of faith in Ahsoka, Anakin feels betrayed by the Jedi Council.

2 Worst – “A Sunny Day In The Void” (6.4)

Unfortunately for the hearty and lovable D-squad, IMDb gives their arc zero love, with every episode ranked the lowest collection of season five, perhaps harshly, but also understandable given the quality of the rest of the season.

The second episode, “A Sunny Day In The Void” does not need to exist, the arc could have gotten condensed into three episodes, arguably two. It sees their ship damaged on a comet, crash landing on a desolate planet they must get through to complete their mission.

1 Best – “The Lawless” (9.7)

Before the Siege of Mandalore came along and collectively blew the minds and broke the hearts of fans, there was one episode that stood above the rest. Even if there were better arcs and stories, there was one episode that was king of The Clone Wars, “The Lawless.”

The episode sees Maul lure Obi-Wan to Mandalore by using Satine – with the Jedi Council adamant Obi-Wan should wait for a Senate decision on the matter, but Obi-Wan in a rare moment of defiance goes anyway – before murdering her in cold blood in front of him. Satine dies in Obi-Wan’s arms before he gets imprisoned. He then gets rescued by Bo-Katan, whom he realizes is Satine’s sister, and leaves the planet amidst a visually incredible battle.

That would have genuinely been enough to elevate the episode to one of the best, but then fans get a long craved Sidious duel, with him handily defeating Maul and murdering Savage. The episode is beyond qualitative comprehension and with the arc being one of the most exceptional pieces of Star Wars content ever created.