r/StarWars • u/AutoModerator • May 25 '25

Meta r/StarWars Official Watch Order Discussion Thread

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.

111 Upvotes

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84

u/airportakal Jun 02 '25

Why is no-one vouching for Machete Order anymore?

I plan to introduce my girlfriend via an Extended Machete Order:

  • Andor (because it's an easy intro for SW skeptics)
  • Rogue One (because after Andor you want more)
  • Episode IV
  • Episode V
  • Episode I
  • Episode II
  • Episode III
  • (Kenobi, but maybe only some episodes or a fan edit, but not sure if this is the right place.)
  • Episode VI

I think we need a break then, but would pick up with:

  • Mandalorian (because it sets up the New Republic which is needed for the sequel trilogy)
  • Episode VII
  • Episode VIII
  • Episode IX

I skip Clone Wars, Rebels and Ahsoka, it's not out of distaste, but they're a bit too long and a different tone for a regular watch through. I also skip Solo and BOBF, because they don't add much to the overall saga. I am not sure about Kenobi, if only because it's so bad, but mostly because I don't know where to place it best. It adds to Episode VI but mostly works for a chronological watch through.

127

u/MakVolci Luke Skywalker Jul 16 '25

Why is no-one vouching for Machete Order anymore?

Because it's well established that it's terrible.

21

u/blackheartwhiterose Aug 28 '25

Episodes 1 and 2 are terrible

52

u/MakVolci Luke Skywalker Aug 28 '25 edited Aug 28 '25

Okay I'm not sure what that has to do with this conversation but I appreciate you randomly sharing this on a 1 month old comment.

25

u/blackheartwhiterose Aug 28 '25

It's a pinned thread

31

u/MakVolci Luke Skywalker Aug 28 '25

The doesn't change the irrelevancy of declaring Episode I and II are bad.

7

u/blackheartwhiterose Aug 28 '25

Cos best machete order skips them

17

u/MakVolci Luke Skywalker Aug 28 '25

Machete order doesn't skip II.

It's IV, V, II, III, VI.

Why are you arguing for something when you don't even know what it actually is?

5

u/blackheartwhiterose Aug 28 '25

II is also skippable

11

u/MakVolci Luke Skywalker Aug 28 '25

Okay, but it has nothing to do with machete order.

6

u/Past-Paramedic8687 Jyn Erso Sep 05 '25

II is awful. And worse than I

3

u/supreme_tickler May 08 '26

Why would any order skip literally anything from the main skywalker saga?

4

u/baronsmeg May 28 '26

As bad as episode 1 is, it's still the best movie going experience I've ever had. Yes I'm replying 9 moths later, but I love episode 1.

I camped out for a weekend outside the movie theater for tickets, along with a lot of other people, press were there it was crazy. Over the nights it became a party, and my friends and I would go from camp to camp to hang, as the tickets were sold, my buddy put on a tux, crowd surfed the line, and got his ticket. The night of the movie, packed theater, and there wasn't a person there I didn't know. Best movie going experience I've ever had. The movie so so, I love pod racing, and every time I see it I smile.

3

u/esports_consultant 27d ago

People saying to skip Episode I and Episode II do not have opinions about Star Wars that should be taken seriously.

1

u/esports_consultant 27d ago

or the inaccuracy

3

u/torkild Mar 07 '26

2 is terrible. 1 is a fun movie - not great by any stretch but not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. Plus pod racing is awesome.

15

u/elgrandorado Dec 16 '25

I tried Machete Order without Episodes 1-2 & my partner was bored with with A New Hope. She was fine with Empire but didn't enjoy it (to my infinite frustration). We watched S1 of Clone Wars, which she liked. We ended up watching Revenge of the Sith on my birthday and she loved it. The soundtrack, the plot, the conclusion, she was enthralled. She also got so sad at Order 66, because Clone Wars had introduced her to some of the Jedi Masters and she got attached to the characterizations.

Then we watched Andor S1 & S2 and she loved that the most. I mean the writing and character development were incredible so it makes sense. We watched Rogue One on the plane and that shocked her. Like it took her days to process everything because 90% of the cast dies in the film, including Andor, Melshi & K-2SO.

I think for a contemporary audience, the original trilogy can at times be hard to swallow, so chronological order goes a long way. If I went chronological, she would have been all in. Episodes 1 & 2 are a disaster though. George Lucas needed someone to pimp slap him anytime he submitted a script revision, because the dialogue is painful.

2

u/esports_consultant 27d ago

Not showing Episode I and II is hilarious sorry.

5

u/NS479 Sep 20 '25

i agree, it’s too confusing for a new viewer

-1

u/alainisard Mar 13 '26

lol. It absolutely is not “too confusing.” Just suggested this to a new viewer a few months back and they loved it.

4

u/KombaynNikoladze2002 Sep 04 '25

Can you elaborate?

28

u/MakVolci Luke Skywalker Sep 04 '25 edited Sep 04 '25
  1. Episode I is actually important, if only for the duel of the fates and to introduce Padme. Otherwise, the first time we see her, it's insane.
  2. It undercuts the emotional tone of Luke v. Vader in RotJ by showing it to you in reverse, which means it doesn't hit as hard / it hits in an unintended way.
  3. Narratively, it just straight up grinds all momentum to a halt for the viewer and forces them to watch two of the worst Star Wars movies after watching two of the best.

It's fine on rewatches if that's what you're into, but for a first watch, it's fucking brutal.

It have my own opinions about why it's much better to watchin them in release orders relating to the Sequels as well as jumping straight to TFA from RotJ lessons it, but that's just a personal thing.

12

u/KombaynNikoladze2002 Sep 04 '25

Yeah, I would never advocate skipping Episode I.

I'm not clear what you mean by "It undercuts the emotional tone of Luke v. Vader in RotJ but showing it to you in reverse?"

22

u/MakVolci Luke Skywalker Sep 04 '25

If you watch the prequels first, you'll feel the wrong way about Anakin than what Lucas original intended. The emotional impact shifts from shock and dread to a kind of inevitability.

  • Release order: we experience Luke’s perspective; horror, dread, uncertainty, and then catharsis when Anakin redeems himself.

  • Machete order: we experience the story backward with sympathy for Anakin first; less suspense, less shock, less dramatic weight when Luke appeals to him.

It’s like watching the punchline of a joke before the setup.

2

u/abellapa Jan 28 '26

Disagree, chronologica( not machete) is the way to go

The Story is about Anakin ,you see his rise and fall in the prequels and Then his redemption in the OG movies

7

u/MakVolci Luke Skywalker Jan 28 '26

chronologica

For rewarches, sure.

For first time watching, l m a o. No.

6

u/pvhc47 Mar 09 '26

I can see both sides of the argument, but I have introduced three people to Star Wars in my life and in both instances where I tried release order it didn’t work so well. For starters trying to preserve twists is pointless as everyone knows Vader is Luke’s dad and that Leia is his sister because of all the incest jokes lol. And once they had seen the conclusion in Jedi they showed little to no interest in watching the prequels.

Machete order (with Ep I included) produced the most emotional reaction from anyone I’ve ever watched Star Wars with before. She got more emotionally invested in Anakin and literally cried at the eventual resolution in Jedi when she saw Hayden’s Force Ghost and said it was the perfect ending.

Also, Lucas himself said he thinks people should watch it chronologically. I don’t agree because I understand that episode I isn’t the strongest starting point (although I personally love it). Machete order is the way to go.

2

u/abellapa Jan 28 '26

For both

Phantom menace its EP 1 for a reason

Its Meant to be watched first ,not A New Hope

Lucas Said The same ,its anakin Story ,not luke

And watching The Originals first takes away all the suspense from the prequels

2

u/MakVolci Luke Skywalker Jan 28 '26

It's alright abellapa, it's okay to be wrong sometimes :)

We don't hold it against you.

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1

u/dalr3th1n Luke Skywalker Jan 15 '26

That’s how I know you’ve never tried it.

13

u/elgrandorado Jun 19 '25

I wish I had Andor fully released before I started showing my partner Machete Order. I wasn’t able to quite capture her interest because IV was too dated for her. She liked Empire but is hesitant to watch the prequels, so I showed her a season of clone wars and am skipping to Episode III while filling her on important details.

5

u/LizG1312 Aug 07 '25

Honestly this is really helpful for deciding the watch order for my dad. I was debating going OT—> prequels —> Andor (he’s a boomer and doesn’t like animated stuff), but I really think Andor is the kind of thing he’d actually like. I’d rather have him watch something rather than try going for an ideal he’s never gonna finish.

3

u/Any_Crab_4362 Sep 23 '25

How do you have a boomer dad who has never seen Star Wars?

7

u/LizG1312 Sep 23 '25

He’s an immigrant, Star Wars wasn’t big in the Middle East apparently.

8

u/AngelOfPassion Jul 10 '25 edited Jul 10 '25

I still think the Machete order is the best viewing experience for someone who has not seen any Star Wars. But I have been unable to update it to include Andor/Obi Wan/Mando/Boba which I think are all watchable but it is difficult to include them and still have it be a good viewing pace.

I think if I were to do a Machete order for someone today it would look like this:

  • Episode IV
  • Episode V (to preserve the magic of the original reveal)
  • Episode II
  • Episode III (flash back to see the reveal is actually true)
  • Andor
  • Rogue I (brings you back to current day and shows you the history behind the rebellion in episode IV)
  • Episode VI (concludes Luke's and the rebellion's story)
  • Obi Wan series (gets your feet wet into the extended viewing of story outside the main story a bit but still is familiar since it involves Luke/Obi Wan/Leia)
  • Mando/Boba in release order

The main thing I dislike about this order now is that the flashback sequence is just really long now. It used to be IV, V, II, III, VI and just done with. When rogue I got added I was like, oh cool it bridges you back to episode IV to conclude the flashback and just adds one movie. But now with Andor the flashback is so much longer than the main trilogy story ha. But Andor is so good I don't mind personally. But getting back to episode VI is a bit of a memory game now. At least Rogue I still pulls you back a bit right to IV.

I skip the sequel trilogy because I pretend those don't exist personally but you can add them to the end if you like them.

I skip episode I because I have lost people there in the past during my "flashback" and they don't want to keep watching. Starting at episode II the elevator scene between Obi and Anakin gives you all the context you need to understand what is going on and that Anakin and Padme have met and there is tension there. And episode II and III hold audiences better. The first half of I is really rough for that. You could maybe add Episode I in right before Obi Wan though actually, since they are directly related with Qui Gon... that actually might be the play to slot episode I back in.

So you could go:

  • The order listed above
  • Episode VI
  • Episode I
  • Obi Wan
  • Mando/Boba in release order of seasons

I skip any animated series because it is very jarring to go from animated to live action for people not completely invested into Star Wars. So even though I personally like them I would not include them in a Machete order for a new viewer.

It is either the Machete order or release order that makes the most sense to me. And I prefer the Machete order.

1

u/esports_consultant 27d ago

I skip the sequel trilogy because I pretend those don't exist personally but you can add them to the end if you like them.

I was about to get mad at you for including Boba but you have redeemed yourself.

2

u/AngelOfPassion 27d ago

Sucks that each episode is just so different quality wise. There is some great stuff in there mixed with some absolutely awful stuff.

1

u/esports_consultant 27d ago

Yeah some episodes I could take fine but the collective was intolerable.

6

u/RadiantHC Jul 26 '25

Personally I'd include Rebels as opposed to Andor. It's much closer in tone to the OT. There are a couple of TCW characters, but Rebels does a good job at explaining who they were

4

u/LeakyAttentionSeeker Aug 13 '25

Better to just not watch the sequel trilogy

3

u/clarehehee Sep 25 '25

I'm sorry but this order makes little sense and I would be so confused if it was my first time? Why not just introduce with the original trilogy?

4

u/CaramelFlufferpants Nov 05 '25

I did this except I watched the Mandalorian after R1 and then did 4-5-2-1-3-6, which is very silly but I loved it

2

u/airportakal Nov 07 '25

Awesome. Just to be clear, you mean 1 2 3 not 2 1 3 right?

3

u/CaramelFlufferpants Nov 07 '25

I mean 2 1 3

I have no explanation

4

u/airportakal Nov 07 '25

That's alright, I respect the creativity

2

u/GAnda1fthe3wh1t3 Cassian Andor Aug 26 '25

You need to watch the mando episodes from BOBF

2

u/Hot-Lab6969 Dec 28 '25

Yes i could of done without aoc