Episode Title: "Weapons Factory"

Writer: Brian Larsen

Tagline: "No gift is more precious than trust."

The Story: Last week, Republic forces brought the fight back to Geonosis -- where the Clone Wars started, in "Episode II: Attack of the Clones" -- to destroy a massive new droid factory and put an end to Separatist bigwig Poggle the Lesser's contribution to the conflict. With the way now cleared, Jedi General Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, are joined by Jedi Master Luminara Unduli and her Padawan, Barriss Offee. The plan involves having the two more experienced Force-users create a distraction while Ahsoka abd Barriss sneak inside to sabotage the facility. Skywalker has his doubts however... or perhaps it's just his predilection towards attachment -- his eventual downfall -- getting in the way of the mission. Read more...

Episode Title: "Landing at Point Rain"

Written By: Brian Larsen

Tagline: "Believe in yourself or no one else will."

The Story: It's like a return to "Attack of the Clones," but in a good way. Ever since the opening shots of the Clone Wars were fired on Geonosis in the rescue of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala, the Separatist forces there have been shoring up their military assets with help from a newly established planetside robot factory. The key to the Republic's assault on the planet rests in the hands of three Jedi generals -- Skywalker, along with Masters Kenobi and Ki-Adi Mundi -- who are charged with leading an advance force to take out the facility's shields, allowing walker tanks to bring it down with their heavier guns. Read more...

Episode Title: "Senate Spy"

Written by: Melinda Hsu

Tagline: "A true heart should never be doubted."

Story: Now that the whole Cad Bane affair is sorted out, it's time to get back to some Jedi-on-Sith action, right? Wrong! Taking a page from roughly half of "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones," "Senate Spy" is all about Ani and Padme in love. How touching. The Jedi Council believes there's a Trade Federation turncoat in the Senate, one Senator Clovis, who has a romantic history with Padme. And so the Jedi Order -- with some help from their favorite rising star, Anakin Skywalker -- attempt to convince the Naboo representative to spy on her colleague and former lover, creating tension in the still-relatively-new Anakin/Padme marriage. Read more...

Episode Title: "Children of the Force"

Written by: Henry Gilroy & Wendy Meracle

Tagline: "The first step to correcting a mistake is patience."

The Story: Season two of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" opened with the notorious bounty hunter Cad Bane absconding with a Jedi Holocron containing the names and locations of all known Force-sensitives/future Jedi in the galaxy. After giving his Jedi pursuers the slip, Bane sets out to kidnap baby Force-users for his shadowy employer, Darth Sidious. Meanwhile, Jedi Masters Yoda, Mace Windu and Obi-Wan Kenobi, along with Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, pool their talents to locate Bane's initial targets. Jedi Windu, Kenobi and Skywalker all set off in different directions, hoping to intercept the bounty hunter before he can do irreparable damage to the Jedi Order's future... Read more...

Excuse me while I flip out for a moment...

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry about that. It's just that one of the characters revealed in these new images from season two of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" is BOSSK!!! Deep-cut "Wars" fans know who I'm talking about. He's the green, bipedal lizard bounty hunter who hisses at Imperial officers in "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back." And now he's joining the "Clone Wars" crew.

I'll admit that I wasn't sure what to make of the CG animated take on "Star Wars" when I first saw the feature-length pilot/theatrical release. The series quickly won me over though as some of the best fan-serving new "Star Wars" content to arrive since Darth Vader was "born" in "Episode III." "Clone Wars"' first season hits Blu-ray and DVD on November 3; you can also look for the second season of the series to hit Cartoon Network this Fall! Proceed past the jump for a look at the full-size pics. Read more...

This Friday, the first season of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" will come to an end. Expectedly, Lucasfilm has some surprises in store...including one that we can unveil now. The show will be introducing a new bounty hunter to the mix, a Wild West-themed bad guy named Cad Bane.

Check him out in the video below and let us know if you think he could take on the more famous bounty hunter, Boba Fett. The final episode of "Clone Wars" -- entitled "Hostage Crisis" --airs March 20 at 9pm EST on Cartoon Network.

He’s a purple Hutt, bedazzling in sky blue tattoos, a peacock feather nestled behind his rumbled head, a character "Empire Online”"called "a cross-dressing pimp” who holds court in "Downtown Coruscant." He’s sure to be the most talked about new character in the entire Republic when “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” is released August 15. And he’s absolutely "FAB-U-LOUS!"

Ok, let’s be straight for a second: Jabba’s uncle, Ziro the Hutt, a new character introduced specifically for the upcoming animated series, is a gay stereotype that makes what Jar Jar Binks represented to the island of Jamaica look subtle by comparison. It’s not the look or design that pushes it over the top into stereotype, of course, but the voice (performed by Corey Burden), a lispy, high-pitched twang purposively reminiscent of Truman Capote.

So how did a character who wasn’t even supposed to speak English wind up sounding like that? Because George Lucas insisted on it, "Clone Wars" director Dave Filoni confessed.
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The animated "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" opens this week (check out our interview with George Lucas here), giving audiences another opportunity to pal around with old friends like Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and R2-D2. But while a lot of the action and characters will be familiar to fans of the series, a majority of the voices won't. No Hayden Christensen or Ewan McGregor. No Natalie Portman or Frank Oz. In fact, the only actors returning to voice their characters are Samuel L. Jackson (Mace Windu), Christopher Lee (Count Dooku), and Anthony Daniels (C-3P0).

So why aren’t a lot of the actors who made the roles famous returning?

Read more...

In the new animated "Star Wars: The Clone Wars", you get to see two major new characters and a whole host of new stories. (Read the full "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" interview with George Lucas here.)

But one thing you won't see is perhaps the most familiar of all "Star Wars" tropes. And its absence will be noticed immediately.

"Because we originally developed this as a TV series, George [Lucas] felt that the crawl wasn't going to be effective as a way to introduce the audience to the TV series," director Dave Filoni said of the 'Star Wars' crawl, the distinctive prologue which has begun every single feature adventure so far. "He wanted it to be faster and he wanted to do it visually." Read more...

As a lifelong “Star Wars” nut, I grew up believing in a supreme being that you didn’t worship every Sunday at church, but rather in a movie theater on a Friday night. I’m speaking, of course, about George Lucas.

As children, we all grew up thinking he was the ultimate auteur, who’d dreamt up every eccentric alien, battered space ship, and gonk droid himself. But now, the Comic-Con floor is buzzing with anticipation over “Clone Wars,” the slick-looking CG “Star Wars” flick that hits theaters next month. So I had to ask: After handing over the reigns to so many animators, how much creative input does the film’s “Executive Producer” still exert?

“It’s more like I have milestones, almost like I have a final exam every couple weeks,” grinned director Dave Filoni when I sat down with him backstage after unveiling footage to eager geeks, explaining that George isn’t quite as hands-on as he used to be. Read more...