Star Wars: The Clone Wars earned acclaim for fleshing out the fictional Star Wars universe and improving the tapestry of the prequel trilogy. However, it wasn't the first show of its kind. Before George Lucas had ever met Dave Filoni, he commissioned a cartoon bridging Episodes I and II by Samurai Jack's Genndy Tartakovsky, titled Star Wars: Clone Wars.
Most of The Clone Wars was produced before Disney's acquisition of Lucas film and the canon wipe of the expanded universe. This means the series was initially built around existing EU material and didn't cover certain moments or character introductions that had been done elsewhere. With the canon wipe, these moments no longer have a canonical depiction. Certain parts of Tartakovsky's Clone Wars are incompatible with canon material. For example, the two series have completely different explanations for what Anakin and Obi-Wan are doing immediately before Revenge Of The Sith. Other moments, however, are still compatible and are good enough to deserve canon status.
5 Anakin And Ventress' Duel On Yavin IV
Assaj Ventress is one of those aforementioned characters without a point of origin in Star Wars. Due to plenty of existing Clone Wars EU material with Ventress as a villain, the 2008 series didn't introduce her, but just presented her as part of the main cast along with characters from the films themselves; Anakin and Obi-Wan have explicitly met her before. There were some brief flashbacks to her early days in Season 3 episode "Nightsisters," which (a). retconned her into a Dathomirian and (b). was the first big break between The Clone Wars' depiction of her and previous iterations.
Clone Wars introduced Ventress in Chapter 6 without much backstory, though because of her blue & green lightsabers, one could infer she was a fallen Jedi. She was portrayed as a Sith aspirant recruited by Count Dooku and sent to hunt down Anakin Skywalker. Darth Sidious' true plan was no doubt for Ventress to test Anakin's power and push him toward the dark. If so, she succeeded. The two duel on Yavin IV and by embracing his darker impulses, Anakin overwhelms Ventress then sends her tumbling off a cliff. She never returns in the series, though comics confirm that she survived. The duel is a breathtaking one that deserves to be seen and re-canonized.
4 Grievous' Introduction At The Battle Of Hypori
Count Dooku's other primary minion, General Grievous, is as bereft of a canon introduction as Ventress now is. This is an even greater shame since his introduction in Clone Wars was a highlight of the series. Grievous debuts in Chapter 20, leading an attack on the Planet Hypori and routing the Jedi.
Six Jedi huddle in the debris of one of their cruisers, but Grievous makes his presence known, advising them to "make peace with the Force" but promising them each a warrior's death. The build-up to his arrival is a masterpiece in suspense worthy of Hitchcock or Spielberg. First, it's just the clanking sound of Grievous approaching, then the Padawan Sha'a Gi rushes to his doom and both viewers and Jedi get their first good look at Grievous. The General briefly slinks back to the shadows before he unleashes his full fury on all five Jedi, slaying K'Kruhk and Tarr Seirr, critically wounding Shaak Ti and Aayla Secura, and fighting Ki-Adi Mundi to a standstill. The battle is rendered in beautiful, hyperactive animation and accompanied by a terrifying score rivaling John Williams' compositions for the Star Wars films.
3 Anakin's Knighting As A Jedi
Anakin Skywalker finishes Episode II as a Padawan, but he begins Episode III as a fully knighted Jedi. This is another story beat where Clone Wars filled in the gap. Chapter 21, the opening of Clone Wars' third season, features Obi-Wan nominating his apprentice for Knight-ship to the Jedi Council. The Council ultimately approves his nomination and Anakin is knighted, albeit without having to go through the usual trials of a Jedi, leaving him vulnerable to emotional manipulation.
Since The Clone Wars first tried to fit itself into the previous EU framework, the series didn't depict Anakin's knighting. Indeed, it opens with him already a knight and taking on an apprentice of his own, Ahsoka Tano. Even outside The Clone Wars, the event had yet to be depicted in canon. There's nothing in Clone Wars' depiction that contradicts canon and any later iteration would be hard-pressed to outdo it.
2 Dooku Training Grievous
When Obi-Wan confronts Grievous in Revenge Of The Sith, the cyborg General claims "I have been trained in your Jedi arts by Count Dooku!" before unsheathing his stolen Lightsabers (Obi-Wan's retort in the original script, bafflingly cut from the film: "Funny ... I trained the man who killed him."). While in canon material, Grievous certainly serves at Dooku's behest, they haven't shown much of his training. Instead, Dooku simply treats Grievous like an especially powerful minion.
In Clone Wars Chapter 22, Sith and cyborg spar with Lightsabers. Dooku dispenses teacherly advice all the while, culminating in him advising Grievous not to be overconfident against the Jedi and to rely on fear to break his opponents' will before the fight even begins. It's a small scene, but a very well-done one with some great dialogue.
1 Shaak Ti Protecting Palpatine From Grievous
Revenge Of The Sith opens with Chancellor Palpatine abducted by the Separatists, with the opening crawl "In a stunning move, the fiendish droid leader, General Grievous, has swept into the Republic capital and kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine." The film obviously didn't have time to depict the kidnapping itself, leaving Clone Wars and James Luceno's novel Labyrinth Of Evil to fill in the gaps.
There are discrepancies between the two depictions (Labyrinth Of Evil features a duel between Grievous and Mace Windu, while in Clone Wars the Jedi Master just crushes the general's chest with the Force). However, in both iterations, it's the Jedi Shaak Ti who takes the lead in unsuccessfully guarding Palpatine. This is the moment that has come the closest to re-canonization; in The Clone Wars' Season 7 episode, "Old Friends Not Forgotten," Obi-Wan mentions that Shaak Ti is guarding Palpatine before he and Anakin leave for Coruscant.
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