Clone Wars Season 7 is the latest chapter in a very busy few seasons for Star Wars fans In "The Mandalorian," which aired on Disney Plus, we met and fell in love with The Child, the all-powerful good boy (or bad boy) known as Baby Yoda, and in Episode 9, "The Birth of Skywalker," we couldn't move one parsec without feeling the Force

On top of that, we got amusement park rides and comics (plus a $200 lightsaber), and the pre-Force Awakens animated Star Wars show "Star Wars Resistance" aired its final episode on Disney XD But we were here to see one of the most exciting pieces of the Star Wars puzzle: Season 7 of Dave Filoni's multiple Emmy Award-winning animated show Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 7 of [Star Wars: The Clone Wars] is a multiple Emmy Award-winning animated show by Dave Filoni Be warned: of course, spoilers follow for seasons 1 through 6 of The Clone Wars Here's everything you need to know about Clone Wars Season 7

With the exception of the seventh season, which just began airing today on Disney Plus, Clone Wars consists of one movie from 2008 (not very good) and six seasons that aired from 2009 to 2014 (mostly good) Together, the movie and show reveal what happened between the Star Wars prequel films "Episode 2: Attack of the Clones" and "Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith," both of which are considered canonical and span roughly three years

For the visually inclined, there is a brief diagram showing the main chronology of Star Wars and the place of the Clone Wars in it:

I like to change the perspective from episode to episode, so there is no single protagonist in this show, but these four characters most often appear:

The Republic's heroes are often joined by other popular characters from the franchise during their journey Those co-stars include Yoda, Mace Windu, Senator Amidala, and others (yes, even Jar Jar Binks), who help fight the Separatists during the Clone Wars and do favors on various moons and planets

This, of course, puts Star Wars' greatest villains in the line of fire:

If you're new to the show, I recommend watching every episode on Disney Plus before starting season 7 Sure, watching all 121 episodes in one sitting may seem like a daunting task, but since each episode is only about 22 minutes long, you can finish watching the whole thing in a fairly short time

If you start now, you should be able to finish watching the final episode of season 7 before it is available on Disney Plus Needless to say, it's really, really good, except for the somewhat slow pacing of the first two seasons I promise you

If you still don't have that kind of time, you can find plenty of excellent lists online outlining the most important episodes and arcs Whether you're watching "Clone Wars" Season 7 for the first time or re-watching it for the fifth time, here are a few of our favorites that will prepare you:

This 20-episode list comes directly from Disney Plus, which claims to feature the most relevant episodes from Season 7 They are:

These 10 essential episodes by StarWarscom are not necessarily specific to Clone Wars Season 7, but they are the best of the best in the series and should therefore be considered must-sees Here are some of them:

Redditor hyperum's lengthy viewing guide features not only stand-alone episodes, but also includes entire story arcs In addition, they have created a handy graphic that is not only easy to read, but also full of summaries and breakdowns, so be sure to click on the link to check it out

According to the Clone Wars Season 7 trailer and Disney Plus' list of the most important episodes to watch above, the final 12 episodes of the series are expected to spend time on a few characters and plots in particular We know that Ahsoka, Darth Maul, and Captain Rex make plenty of appearances leading up to Darth Sidious' execution of Order 66 (Episode 3, "Revenge of the Sith"), so here is what these characters were doing at the end and in the Clone Wars past Here's what we know about their fates [Anakin's headstrong padawan who clashed sabers with tough villains like Grievous, Ventress, and bounty hunter Cad Bane, proving himself a valuable asset to the Jedi Order and the Republic Her stigma was cleared when fellow Padawan Baris Offee was exposed as the real culprit, but the incident greatly influenced her choice to leave the Jedi Order

From Dave Filoni's follow-up series Rebels, we know that Ahsoka survived long after the Clone Wars as a "gray Jedi" who belonged to neither the Jedi Order nor the Sith, choosing to remain loyal to the rebel cause And the grown Ahsoka uses a white lightsaber

We expect to see some closure between her and Anakin in Clone Wars Season 7 before she confronts him as Darth Vader in the Rebellion It would also be cool to see exactly what she is going to do when Order 66 is executed, how she will then act and where she will go

If you've seen "Solo: A Star Wars Story" but not "The Clone Wars," you may have wondered why Maul, who was thought to have died in Episode I: The Phantom Menace when Obi-Wan cut his saber in half, is alive and well, leading an entire criminal organization called Crimson Dawn You might have wondered why he was still alive and well, leading an entire criminal organization called Crimson Dawn I was surprised - The Clone Wars gave us the answer: Maul was incredibly resilient and was rescued by his brother, Savage Opress, after escaping to Lotto Islet Opress took Maul to Mother Tarzin, a magic user and leader of the Dathomirian Night Sisters (and Maul's own mother), who fitted her son with a new cybernetic leg

Maul then continued to wreak havoc on the Republic throughout the Outer Rim, eventually acquiring a powerful dark saber (first seen in live action in "The Mandalorian") He then set his sights on Obi-Wan, as having his lower body chopped off still irked him This revenge led to the execution of Obi-Wan's lover Satine with a death saber, and Obi-Wan witnessed her death firsthand

It is not known what role Maul will play leading up to Revenge of the Sith, or if he and Obi-Wan will encounter each other again in The Clone Wars, but the trailer for season 7 teases an epic duel between Maul and Ahsoka

And then there is good old Rex, Anakin's first commander and leader of the clones Rex has fought in almost every important battle, deftly leading his squad and losing many of them As season 7 begins, he is particularly distraught over the supposed death of his squadron's Echo, and wonders how that will affect the outcome of his clone war arc

Nevertheless, we know that he will survive Order 66 and even participate in the Battle of Endor in the original film trilogy, so it is nice to not have to prepare for his death in Season 7

Well, hopefully by now you've watched the entire show, seen or re-watched some key episodes, and/or feel informed enough to contribute to the discussion at your office watering hole about the seventh and final season Starting today, Disney will release one new episode each week for the next 12 weeks on its streaming service, Disney Plus Thank you, my Padawan, for joining us on this adventure with us May the Force be with you as you begin or continue your Clone Wars journey

Clone Wars Season 7, Episode 1, titled "The Bad Batch" is currently streaming on Disney Plus You can read our review of Clone Wars Season 7 here