You don't need to watch the entire Clone Wars series. Rebels is not a direct sequel to Clone Wars, but there's certainly a lot of continuity with it. You would enjoy parts of Rebels more if you had some familiarity with some character and storyline elements from Clone Wars, but they're never required to understand what is going on.
I'm sure I'll miss some things, but I can give you a few suggestions of episodes to either watch, or read the plot synopses. Alternately, perhaps you want to read backgrounds on specific characters, in order to better appreciate their appearance on Rebels. Remember, you don't need any of this to appreciate Rebels, but if you do watch it, you'll appreciate it more. (Side note: I'm listing several episodes below. It's best to watch them in the order of when they aired, as opposed to watching them by category like I have.)
1. Ahsoka Tano. (Duh.) In season 2 of Rebels, she plays a major part. Now about 30 years old instead of 14, she's come a long way from the "Snips" you remember from the first season of Clone Wars. Most importantly, you will want to watch Episodes 17-20 of Season 5, which detail Ahsoka's fate in Clone Wars. Additionally, I believe Episodes 15-17 of Season 3 will become very important, and perhaps already are, but it's just a feeling.
2. CT-7567 "Rex" and the rest of the 501st Legion of clones that served under Anakin Skywalker. Rex and a couple other renegade clones have an important role starting in Season 2 of Rebels. He's so pervasive throughout The Clone Wars, that you're probably better off looking him up on starwars.wikia.com.
3. Hondo Ohnaka. The pirate that served as an occasional antagonist, occasional protagonist in Clone Wars continues his unreliable utility in the occasional episode of Rebels. I won't bother listing episodes for him, because I'm not sure you need them all to understand his character.
4. Saw Gerrera. (Another "Duh.") Watch Episodes 2-5 of season 5 of The Clone Wars. This is the background for Saw Gerrera, who you may have seen perishing on Jedha in Rogue One. He makes a few appearances in Rebels.
5. Maul. This is tricky. The former Darth from The Phantom Menace made an unlikely return during The Clone Wars. His episodes are spread throughout the series and are pivotally important to many plot points. Maul shows up at the end of Season 2 of Rebels, and continues to be an occasional antagonist throughout Season 3. He made 7 appearances in the Clone Wars - S03E14, S04E13, S04E14, S05E01, S05E14, S05E15, and S05E16. His story arc in Clone Wars also ties into my next point.
6. The Mandalorians. The planet Mandalore featured in several Clone Wars episodes as well, with a long, overarching plot that has major implications for one the main characters in Rebels. The episodes in question were: S02E12, S02E13, S02E14, S03E05, S03E06, S04E14, S05E15, S05E16. (You'll notice several of those coincide with the Maul episodes, above.)
7. The Nightsisters. Also tied closely in to Darth Maul, these too have an impact on the show Rebels. (S03E12, S03E13, S03E14, S04E19, S04E20, S04E21, S04E22, S06E08-S06E09)
Bonus: Conspiracy. A.K.A. "Everything you ever wanted to know about Order 66 and were afraid to ask." Okay, you don't need this for Rebels, but you want to watch it anyway. S06E02.
_________________ Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails... ...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be? Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me █ ♣ █
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