Everyone has their own reasons for returning to a good series. At the core, even if the characters, the plot and the environments are different, every good series is summed up by the same element: good stories.

SW Rebels still has that appeal, though it is just starting. And if it were to follow in the footsteps of its predecessor, The Clone Wars, they will find that good stories are what made their run so successful to begin with.

However, with the cancellation of The Clone Wars, it has created a disconnect from SW Rebels being able to properly tell their own stories withou running into unanswered questions left behind from the previous series.

In the Jedi Archive Temple’s article “Is the Ghost Crew the biggest problem with Star Wars Rebels” exams why the Clone Wars was so successful:

Characters like Hondo Ohnaka, Savage Oppress, and Pong Krell were properly developed and fully realized on The Clone Wars in just a few episodes. Not to mention the major characters like Ahsoka Tano, Captain Rex, and Asajj Ventress.

Another Article by WhatCuluture.com, “Star Wars: 8 Reasons Why The Clone War Was Better Than The Prequels” goes on to dissect the success behind The Clone Wars stories

Better Stories: This is the single most important reason “Clone Wars” is infinitely better than the prequels.

As Mr. Plinkett demonstrated, the most important failing of the prequels was that they failed to tell good stories. And that’s the most important success of “Clone Wars.”

Many “Clone Wars” stories are long term. An arc can last seasons, like the Satine arc. There are stand-alone episodes and 3 or 4 episode long plots. There are some bad, boring, or cheesy plots, yet there are some arcs filled with profound drama and shocking intensity.”

They’re just better stories. They have beginnings, middles, and ends. They have sympathetic character drama and exciting plot twists.

When a character dies, you shout at the television in shock and rage. When a character succeeds, you whoop and cheer. These things seem to matter. They’re not just boring, and they don’t just have nostalgia value.

Clone Wars makes you care. That’s the basic thing every halfway decent story has to get out of an audience. And it’s the thing the prequels ignored.

In the same article by the Jedi Archive Temple “Is the Ghost Crew the biggest problem with Star Wars Rebels” goes on to state: The “Ghost Crew” consisting of: Ezra, Sabine, Kanan, Hera and Zeb seem underdeveloped, even after two seasons.

The point is after a season and a half, the main characters on Star Wars Rebels remain the show’s biggest obstacle

For one, Rebels tends to use existing characters as a crutch. Some characters like Darth Vader, Ahsoka Tano, and Captain Rex have made meaningful additions to the series but most existing characters are used to distract viewers from a weak story or the Ghost crew.

"Another issue is that stories are rarely given enough time to work with. Yes, twenty-two minutes isn’t a lot of time but look at The Clone Wars."

It had the same issue at times but if the story called for it, they would produce three to four episode story arcs that felt like mini-Star Wars movies. That structure produced some of The Clone Wars’ best stories. Umbara. Ahsoka on the run. Darth Maul’s takeover of Mandalore. Mortis

These stories could have never been told in twenty-two minutes. They needed three or four episodes. By trying to cram everything into twenty-two minutes, Star Wars Rebels is doing a disservice to the stories it’s trying to tell and the characters.

"Some of the most compelling episodes of The Clone Wars had nothing to do with Anakin or Obi-Wan. Of course this produced some of the show’s worst episodes as well. We didn’t need to follow Colonel Gascon and a squad of astromechs around a desert for four episodes. However, it did give The Clone Wars a certain level of freedom."

This ability to create a connection with your viewer is critical in making the jump from a great show into a phenomenal show. The Clone Wars provided a more in depth background into what happened during the events of the prequel movies.

It gave color and further insight to the fall of the Jedi and protagonist Anakin Skywalker as well as other characters that were originally not give dialogue at all. In addition, it gave reason and answers to all the events in Revenge of the Sith.

As a creative media, its addition into the Star Wars universe is impactful. And they make sure to make every episode count towards that.

With underdeveloped characters and a lack of a true storyline, Star Wars Rebels will struggle and continue to struggle until it addresses its root cause: the unanswered questions of the Clone Wars.

By confirming that the the Clone Wars will be finished properly, SW Rebels can truly build and focus on their characters and their own story without having to worry about the unanswered questions they were forced to leave behind.

When the past is filled with unanswered questions, it makes the foundation for new stories shakey and uncertain. SW Rebels will continue to keep taking steps backward, looking behind, before they can finally progress with their new stories.

Sources:

Next Reason

Why The Clone Wars was successful

Current Obstacles in Star Wars Rebels

SW Rebels lives in the Shadow of the Clone Wars