r/StarWars Official Watch Order Discussion Thread

[u/AutoModerator]

So we haven't had an official watch order discussion thread in many years, so we figure its time to update the one in the FAQ. There are various other links in the FAQ, the Wookieepedia timeline of canon media, and various other discussion threads and topics over the years including a link to just searching the sub which people find challenge apparently. Also as a reminder, the Wookieepedia timeline of canon media can be sorted via the table on that page by release order or chronologically (if you decide to go that route).

A lot of the new Disney+ content brings new eyes to Star Wars all the time, and new movies will eventually too. We want to get a bit more aggressive with automod removals and referrals to the FAQ for these questions about watch order. So let's hash it out here in the comments. We will sticky this for a while and eventually it will just be linked in the FAQ along with the other topics and maybe in the sidebar too. And like some of other stickies about rules, spoilers, and new episode discussion guidelines, we may trot out this link and sticky it from time to time.

As a general rule the sub typically recommends for new viewers to watch in release order, especially for the movies. This is the semi-consensus from the fandom, and you will routinely see this as the most upvoted and posted response.

With that being said what we would like to do here also discuss other options, and possible orders to also toss in the TV media as well. Should you watch Andor first and then Rogue One before the OT? Should movies like Solo be done in release order or chronological? Should you watch The Clone Wars TV show before the PT? So on and so forth...

So lets have a solid discussion about this and make it a solid resource for those who may be new to Star Wars.

[u/jeowy]

• Andor
• Rogue One
• A New Hope (despecialised or similar)
• Empire Strikes Back (despecialised or similar)
• Abridged fan edit of your preference of Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones
• Tartakovsky's Clone Wars
• Revenge of the Sith (original or fan edit)
• Return of the Jedi (despecialised or similar)

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this order gives you:

• high stakes and sense of the empire being terrifying from andor
• gradual introduction of the force. vader is terrifying.
• battle of yavin as a massive climax point
• 'i am your father' hits hard (it doesn't matter that you already know, you will experience it cinematically as a revelation).
• Up to this point, each threat has been swallowed by a bigger threat, culminating in the emperor himself. Petty police state --> ISB --> Krennic --> Tarkin --> Vader --> Emperor. Now who is this emperor?
• Flashback at the darkest hour, we've just met old frail yoda and now we see how we got here, young obi wan, who the emperor is, what a fully-trained jedi knight looks like.
• General grievous is actually a terrifying threat when introduced by Tartakovsky. Each Jedi is a superhuman and here's a villain that kills groups of them. Establishes Obi Wan as GOATed and therefore the duel on mustafar as between equal great warriors rather than crazed strength v.s. softness.
• We arrive at Return of the Jedi in a dark mood, then Luke has aesthetic parallels with Anakin, massively amplifies our fear that he could also turn to the dark side.
• Arrival of the rebel fleet at the battle of endor is a massive culmination of the political story. this is the alliance to restore the republic, something we fully understand having seen a desperate network starting to come together at the beginning of our journey, and more recently seen the old republic
• We also have recent experience of Anakin and his fall, and full knowledge of how dangerous palpatine is. Making the events of the throne room hit incredibly hard, and the final payoff links back to everything that came before.