The series finale of The Clone Wars concluded with Darth Vader coming across a makeshift graveyard Ashoka Tano had built for some of the clones who attacked her and Rex following Order 66, while also discovering one of the lightsabers he helped her build. The Sith Lord then walked away in silence, clearly reflecting on the years he spent with his apprentice as Anakin Skywalker.
Now, talking to Entertainment Tonight, showrunner Dave Filoni explained that it's an ending he's had in mind for the long-running series for quite a while now.
"That’s an idea that I’ve had for a very long time," he confirmed. "As I went over different ways to end the show, that was always one of the options I had."
"Ultimately, since Star Wars is a saga about the Skywalker family and Anakin plays a large role in the Clone Wars, but also in Ahsoka’s life, I felt that if you watch the four parts, as much as Sidious has this hidden layer of character arc in the episodes, so does Anakin," he continued, explaining why it was important for him to end with a shot of Vader rather than Ahsoka.
"I wanted to draw a full arc for him where if you’ve never seen Star Wars, you hopefully will be able to understand that the young man that Ahsoka is very good friends with, that’s like a brother to her in the beginning, that the villain Maul says, ‘Hey, he’s going to turn out to be this bad guy,'" added Filoni. "In the end you see that, well, that was actually unfortunately true. The through line is the lightsabers that he worked on for her. There’s this symbolic arc of Anakin underneath that all."
Filoni would also go on to explain some of the visual choices he made for that sequence.
"Everything is bleached out. Everything is pretty stark. Everything’s washed away color-wise, which is what George [Lucas] did it at the end of Revenge of the Sith. A lot of things I do are just ways of taking what George did and reasserting them, enhancing them, showing that this is what his half of Star Wars is about, ultimately, and how the heroes will prevail through it."
What did you guys think of The Clone Wars finale? Did it live up to expectations or were you expecting more from it? As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.