The Clone Wars Finale Retconned Rex's Order 66 Story (But Was It Better?)
The Disney+ revival of Star Wars: The Clone Wars gave the series a second chance to end on its own terms, though it changed Rex’s Order 66 history in the process. Captain Rex, the primary Clone Trooper character in The Clone Wars, made a crowd-pleasing comeback as a reoccurring supporting character in Star Wars Rebels, and is even strongly implied to have a retroactive cameo in Return of the Jedi. Naturally, the beloved Clone hero did not follow through with Order 66, but his original story implied in Rebels and referred to in the 2016 novel Ahsoka were overwritten by The Clone Wars.
Like the Star Wars Legends continuity, Star Wars canon wrote itself into a corner by making the Republic’s Clone Troopers far more likable and well-characterized than their prequel-era origin implied, so Order 66 needed to be explained. While Clones were engineered and conditioned to follow orders without question, being told to betray and murder their allies and friends, the Jedi, would need some additional explanation. In Legends, Clones were subjected to the most intense indoctrination for Order 66, ensuring their compliance, while canon revealed that all Clone Troopers had mind-control implants which changed their personalities in addition to making them betray the Jedi.
Captain Rex’s original story revealed that the fan-favorite Clone Trooper never followed Order 66 since he removed his control chip sometime between the death of ARC Trooper Fives and the Siege of Mandalore. In The Clone Wars, he still had his chip and subsequently attempted to kill his friend, Ahsoka Tano, until she subdued him and removed the implant. Neither version is necessarily better than the other, as Rebels and Ahsoka gave Rex more agency and highlighted his growing skepticism with the Republic while The Clone Wars told a darker and more dramatic story with tragic ramifications.
Rex’s original Order 66 history shows that he took Fives’ warning to heart and secretly removed his control chip, not believing the Republic’s cover-up story regarding the chips after Fives’ assassination. As a result, Rex never followed Order 66 from the start, allowing him and Ahsoka to more easily escape the fledgling Galactic Empire. This version of Rex’s story makes him more proactive and less trusting of an increasingly autocratic Republic, especially considering the final words of his late friend, Fives.
In canon, Rex filed a complaint with the Republic following Fives’ death and secretly left notes expressing his fears that the Clone control chips could have a sinister secret purpose. This helped Ahsoka stun Rex and remove his chip, but not before he nearly killed her when the order was issued. The Clone Wars’ version also led to Rex killing some of his brethren in self-defense and leaving even more to die, including his friend Jesse, an ARC trooper who hadn’t removed his control chip.
While neither version of Rex’s Order 66 story is necessarily better than the other, The Clone Wars should have respected the continuity of Rebels and Ahsoka and faithfully adapted their version of Rex’s Order 66 experiences. The Star Wars canon timeline had an unfortunate habit of contradicting itself in ways that cannot be remedied by a simple retcon, with Kanan Jarrus’ Order 66 origin being similarly overwritten in another property. It is up to viewers and readers to decide which version of Rex’s Order 66 story they prefer, as Star Wars: The Clone Wars overwrote previous material in its final story arc.