Just last week, I decided to watch the original 1977 “Star Wars” again and enjoyed it very much.  I’ve lost count of how many times I have seen it, but I can tell you that when my then-fiance and I saw it in the theater, we sat through it twice.  (How long has it been since you could do that?)

But, as an amusing and informative piece in Slate by Michael Agger points out, even a sturdy knowledge of the original trilogy is of no help at all when the younger generation is hooked on the latest iteration of the saga that takes place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away: Star Wars: Clone Wars.  This animated “microseries” takes place between Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, the 4th and 5th of the movies as released but the second and third in the chronology.  The animated series is hugely confusing for the generation that grew up on the live action movies in part because the focus is on Anakin Skywalker, who we know from all six of the previous films is not going to end up a good guy (“Nooooooo” notwithstanding) and in part because the good guys in this kind of dress like the bad guys we thought we knew.  Just like the films, the series gives kids a rich imaginary world with many, many opportunities for memorization that will quickly eclipse the capacity of anyone over age 16.  Agger’s crib notes are a big help.