Star Wars loyalists should easily spot the charged targets of The Clone Wars' expansive new series five trailer, which is really a gripping minifilm in its own right. But the animated show's action-packed mythology is turning much darker and more dangerous as the CGI series nears The Revenge of the Sith.

It helps that The Phantom Menace's prematurely bisected Sith apprentice Darth Maul features prominently in the trailer (above). He's now a reconstructed cyborg more menacing than ever. He's also evidently teaming up with the mercenary terrorists of Death Watch, whose roots slither forward and backward to Boba Fett, another prematurely dispatched Star Wars character oozing with cultural cred.

They collide alongside a lighsaber-dueling Palpatine, what looks like the last stand of Anakin's Jedi apprentice Ahsoka Tano and much more interstellar life-during wartime intrigue in the downward spiraling sneak peek at the new series, which returns next month. That powerful vertigo of data and destruction is why Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a ratings-buster whose first and second seasons have now officially entered domestic syndication.

Now that the show has crossed its Season 5 syndication threshold, and inched closer to the dystopian nightmare of Revenge of the Sith, should Star Wars geeks look for The Clone Wars to power down?

Luasfilm confirmed to Wired that it's in production for Season 6, but wouldn't reveal plans for beyond that. No matter what happens, as we said in June after The Clone Wars' first almost-as-awesome Season 5 trailer landed, it's been a hellride.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars airs in a new time slot, 9:30 a.m./8:30 a.m. Central on Saturdays, starting Sept. 29 on Cartoon Network.