The Clone Wars addresses a number of criticisms in the franchise as well as the series itself.
- The Clone Wars has received a lot of praise for retroactively redeeming Anakin Skywalker: he's a genuinely likable character in addition to being significantly less angsty. Also, his slow yet steady and inevitable turn to the Dark Side is explored in a much fuller degree and allows for his character development to properly blossom. Tied into that, Anakin and Obi-Wan in The Clone Wars actually feel like the Heterosexual Life-Partners that the Prequel Trilogy tried to present them as and the less stilted presentation of Anakin's relationship with Padmé helps to better give audiences the sense that they loved each other as deeply as they say they do in the films.
- The mutual distrust between Anakin and the Jedi Council in Revenge of the Sith was perceived as being forced and underdeveloped due to neither side having enough reason behind it. The Clone Wars nicely sets the stage for this via the Jedi Council lying to Anakin about Obi-Wan faking his death and abandoning Ahsoka when she was framed for a crime that she did not commit.
- In the Prequel Trilogy, the clone troopers are presented as merely mindlessly obedient Expendable Clones without any personality. As a result, many viewers simply didn't care about them or the outcome of the battles they're in. The Clone Wars has the Jedi debunk the idea of clone troopers being expendable within its first two episodes, shows us plenty of clones with their own unique personalities, and has multiple episodes that focus on their relationships with the Jedi and each other, the way the galaxy perceives them, and their feelings about the war. Many fans consider the clone-focused episodes to be among the best in the series, mainly due to having grown so attached to them as characters.
- Yoda's readiness to fight and crazy lightsaber-flipping back in Attack of the Clones received complaints from some, so in "Ambush", he acts as a Trickster Mentor to the clone troopers who only fights once in the entire episode (and it's more or less to show off).
- Watto's design and personality in The Phantom Menace were criticized for being an uncomfortable Space Jews stereotype. In The Clone Wars, his people (the Toydarians) avert Planet of Copyhats and act nothing like him thanks to the presence of the Reasonable Authority Figure King Katuunko as their primary representative.
- While on the subject of doing away with ethnic stereotypes, General Grievous now speaks with a more Americanized accent instead of the stereotypical Eastern European accent he had in Revenge of the Sith. And while Grievous is still not as powerful as his depiction in the Legends 2003 Clone Wars series, he's shown as a much greater threat than he was in Revenge of the Sith, he's also shown using his smarts along with his power, something never really shown in previous material.
- The Clawdite bounty hunter Cato Parasitti's role in "Holocron Heist" may be a response to how another Clawdite bounty hunter, Zam Wesell, does not utilize her Voluntary Shapeshifting to anywhere near her fullest potential in Attack of the Clones. Not only is Cato specifically enlisted by Cad Bane as an inside woman because she's a shapeshifter, she impersonates two Jedi within the same episode and has a holographic clothing projector to add further flexibility to her disguises.
- The whole Holocron Heist arc is an attempt at a saving throw for the Jedi's controversial policies of infant conscription by showing they are willing to work with the parents of the Sensitive younglings to give them a proper farewell, showing it is a voluntary practice (defenders of the policy liken it to closed adoptions), and showing the dire consequences if these children are not placed in the Order's care and left to parents who can't defend them from the likes of Cad Bane.
- One of the goofier aspects of the first season was Ahsoka being put in command of experienced clone troopers despite being a Padawan. At the beginning of the second season, the Jedi Council bust her down to her socks for disobeying orders and showing that she's not ready for command. From then on, she's given assignments that are more suited to a student than a general.
- Ahsoka's outfit in the pilot movie and first two-and-a-half seasons received some criticisms for being impractical to wear during battles and only consisting of a tube top and skirt with white leggings. The Mid-Season Upgrade in the third season gives Ahsoka a much more appropriate outfit that consists of a conservative yet form-fitting short dress and dark grey leggings.
- The story arcs written by Christian Taylor manage to re-mystify the Force as a result of the Prequel Trilogy being accused of demystifying it with the introduction of midi-chlorians.
- The Mortis arc introduces the ethereal realm of Mortis and the Force wielders, adding a new sense of mystery to the Force.
- The Yoda arc clarifies what midi-chlorians actually are (the link between the living Force and the cosmic Force rather than the cause of the Force itself) and gives them an even more mysterious homeworld. The story arc even includes a slight jab at the accusations, with the Serene Priestess describing them as "what your science calls 'midi-chlorians'" to Yoda.
- The Clone Wars reveals that Darth Maul is still alive and gives him a fleshed out Ascended Extra role, which appeases the fans who thought that he was underutilized and defeated too early back in The Phantom Menace.
- Darth Sidious' fight against Mace Windu and his elite Jedi squad in Revenge of the Sith was widely criticized for being poorly staged and goofy due to the elderly Ian McDiarmid doing most of his own fighting in that scenenote . The Clone Wars makes sure to succeed where Revenge of the Sith fell short by giving Sidious an absolutely epic lightsaber duel against Darth Maul and Savage Opress in "The Lawless", which the fandom widely considers to be one of the best lightsaber duels in The Clone Wars, if not the entire franchise. Sidious also wields two lightsabers in said duel, which explains how in Revenge of the Sith he had a lightsaber to fight Yoda with even though his lightsaber was kicked out of his office window (and presumably destroyed when it hit the ground) by Mace during their duel; he had a spare.
- Bringing Admiral Trench back as a cyborg during the sixth season can be seen as this after he was killed off at the end of "Cat and Mouse" (his first appearance).
- Some fans felt that Revenge of the Sith created a Continuity Snarl by implying that Qui-Gon Jinn had managed to become a Force spirit after his death. Namely, we see his corpse in The Phantom Menace, despite the fact that Jedi are supposed to lose their physical forms when they become one with the Force (such as Obi-Wan in A New Hope and Yoda in Return of the Jedi). Qui-Gon was also not seen with the other Force spirits in Return of the Jedi, even in the updated special editions. The Clone Wars clarifies that Qui-Gon has not completed his training before his death and thus can only manifest himself as a disembodied voice instead of a proper Force spirit. Later canon works would show that he eventually did gain the ability to appear as a spirit, as shown when he appears before Obi-Wan at the end of Obi-Wan Kenobi season one.
- A significant amount of people have grown upset about Disney's treatment of the franchise over the years, such as the series' untimely cancellation along with the feeling that Disney was deliberately ignoring the Prequel Trilogy era and The Clone Wars in particular. The mother of all saving throws happened at SDCC '18 when it was announced that Disney had funded its return for 12 more episodes, including the Siege of Mandalore.
- Dave Filoni decided to bring back Echo during the Bad Batch arc because he felt bad after seeing so many fans feel upset at his sudden death in "Counterattack".
- The end of the Clone Wars micro-series is often celebrated as a great lead-in to Revenge of the Sith. Though Disney has made the ending of the micro-series non-canon through casting it into the Legends branding, many still regard it as canon and were fearful the final season of The Clone Wars would completely retcon it with its finale. Thankfully, that wasn't the case since The Clone Wars' four-part series finale focuses more on Ahsoka and Darth Maul while Palpatine's "capture" happens offscreen and is only given a brief mention just as Anakin and Obi-Wan set out to go rescue him.
- Not only that, but similar to the start of the 3D show (which assumes you saw the 2D show and know who Ventress is, and that Anakin is a Jedi Knight and can take on a Padawan), the information we do get about the attack aligns with CW-2D. Specifically, Obi-Wan mentions that Shaak Ti has moved in to protect the Chancellor but Mace Windu has lost contact with her, which in 2D is the result of the Separatists jamming their communications.
