I have seen the season 3 premiere of Clone Wars and I have to say my breath is took.

I’m not allowed to write with any spoilers until after the premiere, but the training of the Clones and the invasion of Kamino that we’ve heard so much about have been worth the wait.  The painterly qualities of these episodes have been knocked up another notch and it looks like I’m watching paintings with each frame.

The battle sequences are incredibly rendered and the animation models are getting better and better.  In fact, there were a few times when Shaak Tii was deflecting laser bolts from droids that I had to stop and rewind and watch it again because it was so beautifully put together.

At Celebration V, Dave Filoni mentioned that Asajj Ventress would be coming into her own this season, and the teases we saw of her were tremendous.  Her appearance in the premiere is quite a thing to see.  And I love her hyper-sexualized nature.  It took me a little off guard, but I think it’s a very smart direction to take the character.  This is a much more grown up and confident Ventress than the one who had her lightsabers taken from her by Yoda on Toydaria in the season premiere.

A new character is introduced, though I’ll save my impressions of him for my review, but he’s one of my favorites and has a very Gunga Din feel to him.  His name is 99 and I think you’ll all love him as much as I did.

I will also leave you with a warning.  Have your Season One sets standing by.  (If you order now, you can have it before the premiere).  You’ll want to watch the episode “Rookies” before and after you watch the premiere.  In fact, if you have a DVR, it would be my advice to watch the first half of the premiere, watch “Rookies” on Blu-ray, and then watch the second half of the premiere.

Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.

I’ll have a full review up on September 17, 2010, when the show premieres on Cartoon Network.