What Could Have Been / Star Wars: The Clone Wars

The original cast of The Clone Wars. Honestly, they look more like a bunch of Rebels...

• The show was originally intended as a Genndy Tartakovsky production, continuing on from the original Clone Wars project. Tartakovsky foresaw the next 20 years of his life revolving around Star Wars and demanded a singular unrelated feature film in exchange. Negotiations were going well until George Lucas became disillusioned with features and refused to do more, leading Tartakovsky to reluctantly walk away.
• The original premise had Anakin and Obi-Wan in recurring roles, while the main characters (as seen in the page image) would be a Twi'lek Jedi named Sendak (named after Maurice Sendak) and his Togruta padawan Ashla (later becoming Ahsoka), who would team up with a smuggler pilot named Cad (later becoming Cad Bane), his mistress Lupé and their Gungan strongman Lunker. This premise would be reused for its sequel series Rebels, but with the characters changed with Sendak being retooled into Kanan Jarrus, Ashla being split into Ezra Bridger and Sabine Wren, Cad and Lupé being amalgamed into Hera Syndulla and Lunker being retooled into Zeb Orrelios.
• Ahsoka was originally named Ashla Chutu (unknown spelling), but Lucas didn't want her to share her name with his name for the Light Side, so he had Henry Gilroy look in a history book to get an idea for a name. They found Ashoka, but Filoni thought they kept misspelling it on the scripts and changed it to Ahsoka and they eventually decided to keep it.
• Another premise was to have The Clone Wars taking place in a recurring location and to keep landscapes to a minimum, which bore similarities to Firefly.
• Ahsoka was going have to have an Icelandic accent and was originally Obi-Wan's Padawan. It was decided that she would become Anakin's Padawan instead and her voice was based on her voice actress, Ashley Eckstein.
• Lance Henriksen was originally cast as Cad Bane, and even did some voice work for him early in the show's production. However, George Lucas eventually decided to replace him with Corey Burton, as he felt that Henriksen's voice for Bane wasn't "weird enough" for the character. Lucas knew Burton was a talented impressionist, and so asked him to mix Henriksen's delivery with Peter Lorre's voice, leading to the Cad Bane we know today.
• ARC trooper Alpha-17 was going to be a character in The Clone Wars, until George Lucas nixed the idea because it would mean having too many names beginning with A. As a result, we received Rex, who's similar to Alpha, but with a different name.
• Plo Koon was originally going to speak only in his Kel Dor language, but it posed problems for him communicating with his clone troopers, so they decided to have him speak in Basic (the English language of Star Wars).
• The script of "Ambush" was actually written after the pilot movie, the Malevolence arc, the Search for R2-D2 arc, and "Bombad Jedi", but it was moved to air first because it was an Establishing Series Moment for the writers.
• Cham Syndulla was originally conceived of as being a villain who worked with the Separatists and was lying to the people of Ryloth, but plot constraints turned him into the freedom fighter we know him as.
• Durge was originally going to be the first bounty hunter to appear on the show, except reimagined as a human, with redesigned alien features, but he would keep his armor. He was shortly dropped in favor of a new character, Cad Bane of Duro.
• "Hostage Crisis": Orn Free Taa's role in the episode was originally going to be played by Mas Amedda, but budgetary reasons concerning making an animation model for him led this to be changed, as Free Taa's character model already existed.
• Concept art for Cad Bane's seedy hotel room in "Holocron Heist" originally had a Chalk Outline of a Gungan on the floor, which didn't make it into the final design.
• Mace Windu and Boba Fett's discussion at the end of "Lethal Trackdown" was going to be longer, but had to be cut for time, hence why it feels incredibly rushed.
• "Sphere of Influence" was originally conceived of as a prequel episode to "Trespass", with Chi Eekway as Senator Chuchi's twin sister and Chairman Cho covertly helping the Separatists.
• Darth Bane and Revan were to appear in "Ghosts of Mortis", even getting all the way to modeling, but were cut because them appearing as Force ghosts seemed counterintuitive to the now established means for how a Force-user can appear as one.
  • In "Sacrifice", Darth Bane and a great many other unnamed Sith Lords do show up as Force ghosts (or at least illusions of the same) to taunt Yoda. Considering the nature of Revan and his alignment to the Force, it is possible that Revan was there too.
• Originally at the end of "Carnage of Krell", Captain Rex was going to be the one to kill the traitorous General Pong Krell, but ultimately, they decided it didn't fit Rex, so they had Dogma be the one to pull the trigger.
• General Pong Krell was first planned for a larger role in Season 4, being a genuinely heroic figure falling to villainy over the course of the season. This was changed to him having fallen by his introduction in part to avoid Misaimed Fandom they'd revive otherwise.
• Governor Roshti was originally going to be a friend of Ahsoka Tano's parents, but the writers did not intend to bring them into the story so it was cut to avoid making viewers expect them to show up. Ahsoka's mother Pav-ti ultimately appeared in Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi.
• For a short while, "The Wrong Jedi" was intended to end with Ahsoka just going back to the Jedi Order as if nothing happened, but a majority of the writers felt it would be a good time to break away.
• "The Lost One" would have had scenes on Felucia, featuring the Jungle Felucians from The Force Unleashed (which, prior to the Legends decision, was confirmed to be a separate species from the Felucians introduced in season two's "Bounty Hunters").
• Filoni revealed quite a few of these during the 2013 Star Wars Celebration Europe 2, such as:
  • Ashley Eckstein originally auditioned for the role of Padmé, but they found she sounded "too young" for her. However, they also found her perfect for Ahsoka.
  • The Yoda arc was supposed to include the Priestesses talking about the Father to Yoda, but it didn't make it past the first scripts.
  • Multiple Bounty Hunter arcs were in development.
  • Barriss was originally going to commit suicide after she confessed to her crimes via blowing herself up, but Filoni spared her so he could use her later, which eventually happened in Star Wars: Tales of the Empire.
• Pablo Hidalgo clarifies a few plans on his Twitter.
  • The Young Jedi arc was supposed to be a pilot for a spinoff Youngling-focused series. When George Lucas scrapped the idea, it simply got placed in season five.
• George Lucas's numerous attempts to fridge Ahsoka (to add to Darth Vader's development), as The Clone Wars reached closer to the end, were perhaps diplomatically challenged by writers/production.
• During the original run of The Clone Wars, Filoni tried multiple times to have Ahsoka ride on the back of a wolf. A wolf-riding scene was eventually included in Rebels, but did not feature Ahsoka.
• One proposed episode would have been a flashback of Plo Koon discovering Ahsoka, except a bounty hunter finds her first and claims to be a Jedi in an attempt to kidnap her, causing Plo Koon to be seen as suspicious. It was intended as a subversion of Beauty Equals Goodness, with the bounty hunter being an elegant yet coyote-like Zygerrian woman who disguised herself in robes, who contrasted with the somewhat creepy-looking Kel Dor Jedi Master. A brief glimpse of Plo discovering Ahsoka was seen in the intro montage of "The Gathering", and the false Jedi incident was mentioned in the Ahsoka novel.
• For Star Wars Rebels, it was considered at one point to have eight other clones with Rex instead of just Gregor and Wolffe. Among these clones would also have been Kix and Jesse, who instead received alternate fates after Rebels was produced.
• An animation model for Stass Allie was created for an appearance in Season 7 and/or 8.
• At the "Untold Clone Wars" panel, Filoni revealed he wanted Ahsoka and Ventress to team up again after what would be their final meeting in Season 5, but Lucas was never interested in it.
  • Evidently, while Lucas got Ventress killed in Dark Disciple, Filoni was rather set on having Ventress live, as he also tried to revive her for Star Wars Resistance before replacing her with the Resistance-original character Mika Grey when he realized Ventress would've been inappropriate for the smaller scale of the show. He would finally get his wish of reviving her in Star Wars: The Bad Batch by revealing that she has a few lives left in the episode "The Harbinger".
• Series director Giancarlo Volpe wanted Barriss and Ahsoka to end up being a couple when he was directing the episode "Weapons Factory", which never materialised though the Barrissoka ship would become very popular with the fandom as a result of the episode.

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Beware unmarked spoilers!

Season 7

"The Bad Batch"

• Rex looking at a Precious Photo of him, Cody, Fives, and Echo was something not in the reels.
• In the reel, Rex had no problem telling Anakin about his suspicions of Echo having something to do with the Separatists. In the final version, he instead keeps this from him and talks to Cody about it.
• During the Bad Batch's takedown of a force of droids after the gunship crash, the reel version has Jesse quip "Are these guys even real?" This is absent in the final version.

"A Distant Echo"

• The Bad Batch originally had a pinup art of Padmé on their gunship. While walking to their gunship for the first time, Anakin would notice and be quietly angered, asking what that was. Wrecker would answer that they're fans of the Naboo Senator and that "she can 'negotiate' with [us] anytime!" Before boarding the gunship, Anakin would mutter to Rex that it won't be staying on there while Rex awkwardly ushers him to the ship. In the final version, this is replaced with a scene of Anakin talking to Padmé over a holocall. Dave Filoni said that as this is Padmé's only appearance in Season 7, they did not want one of her final scenes in the show involving her to have her as just pinup art.
• Dialogue from Hunter about taking the Havoc Marauder because it "doesn't scream 'Republic'" like other ships at Fort Anaxes is absent in the final version.
• In the original reel, Rex and Crosshair get into a fight because the latter insinuates that Echo may have turned traitor after being left for dead ("If I were left behind, I would not be so loyal."). In the final version, the fight happens because Crosshair shows No Sympathy for Echo's apparent "death", dismissing him as another reg.

"On the Wings of Keeradaks"

• The scene where Anakin contacts Wat Tambor in an attempt to negotiate, and the Techno Union leader responds by demonstrating the organic decimator on a Poletec test subject, is removed from the final version.
• Lines from Hunter, such as a joking inquiry to Anakin and exclaiming "What?!" in reacting to Tech pointing out the battle droids ability to fly, are cut.

"Unfinished Business"

• The explanation that Wat Tambor is so terrified of Trench that he won't dare report Echo's rescue to him has been removed.
• The original reel ends on a medal ceremony while a variation of the Imperial March plays. The final episode removes it and replaces it with a different scene with the Jedi telling the clones that they'll be awarded medals, but the Bad Batch doesn't plan on sticking around for it and invite Echo to join them. After a talk with Rex, he decides to do so. This was the original ending according to writer Matt Michnovetz, so presumably the reel's ending was a placeholder.

Ahsoka's WalkaboutThis story arc, about Ahsoka living after the Fugitive arc, was originally fairly different:

• These two clips show the original versions of the story arc's first episode, including Ahsoka's originally planned outfit and Nyx.
• Ahsoka was originally planned to wear this outfit◊ starting in this arc, but revisions for the revival changed it to a jumpsuit for her civilian outfit and another combat-oriented outfit for the Siege of Mandalore arc.
• The arc would have revolved around her trying to learn how to survive out in the world outside the Jedi Temple, where she would have had a romantic relationship with a smuggler named Nyx Okami (voiced by Matthew Yang King), who would be replaced by the Martez sisters in the final version. Nyx's model sheet can be seen here◊.
• In addition, Kyle Newman would have voiced a Toong (Ben Quadrinaros's species).
• Ahsoka would have been swindled by a crooked salesman who sold her a broken used speeder. Although "Gone With a Trace" shows Ahsoka with a junky speeder, her purchase of it is not shown.
• Filoni also hinted that Barriss Offee may have returned during this story arc.
• One other major difference is that, judging by the planned "Return to the Jedi Temple" arc where Ahsoka would team up with Anakin and Obi-Wan to investigate a Sith shrine deep below the Jedi Temple, Ahsoka was intended to return to living in the Coruscant underworld. The finished version of the arc ties into the Siege of Mandalore by having Bo-Katan and her Nite Owls appear, with Ahsoka leaving with them at the end.

The Siege of MandaloreThe Siege of Mandalore, continuously oft-referenced in Rebels, was always intended as the series' Grand Finale, but the final version of the arc has some differences from early plans.

• Dave Filoni, who had long been seeking a way to put giant wolves onto the show, had an idea for such creatures rescuing Ahsoka from Order 66 by killing all the clone troopers save Rex. Ahsoka also would have ridden a wolf. However, he's stated that this was his own personal headcanon before the Siege of Mandalore was written, though their concept did eventually inspire the Loth-Wolves in Rebels.
• The arc retcons a few aspects of how the Siege of Mandalore and Order 66 were described in Star Wars: Ahsoka:
  • Maul was defeated by being trapped in by ray-shields instead of being cornered under the roof of the Sundari dome.
  • Order 66 was supposed to happen while on the surface of Mandalore, instead of on a ship returning to Coruscant.
  • After escaping Order 66 on Mandalore, Ahsoka and Rex faked their deaths by leaving Ahsoka's lightsabers and Rex's helmet behind to suggest that they killed each other and someone came by later and buried them. The series finale instead has their ship crash-land on an unnamed moon, and Ahsoka only abandons her main lightsaber with the graves of the entire 332nd. What happens to her shoto is not explained.
• In the original animatics for the Bad Batch arc, Rex's scar from presumably removing his chip was visible. In the final version, this detail is omitted as Rex's chip isn't removed until the end of "Shattered". Star Wars: Ahsoka used the original idea, so Rex was immune to Order 66 when it got relayed.

Cancelled future episodes

• The show was originally planned to last eight seasons, but the Disney buyout caused the show to get cancelled after its fifth season. A shortened sixth season was later released on Netflix, which consisted of the remaining episodes that had been completed prior to the cancellation. After the release of Season 6, it was stated by Pablo Hidalgo (a member of the Lucasfilm Story Group) that there were 13 story arcs left, while writer Brent Friedman confirmed that all of Season 7 and 8 had been written, and that each arc consisted of four episodes. A few of the remaining story arcs were released via The Clone Wars Legacy project, and a few more were rewritten and released years later for Season 7 on Disney+, but there were still several arcs which were never released at all.

The ones that got rescued:

• A story arc about a group of clone troopers known as "The Bad Batch", which would feature the return of a Not Quite Dead Echo, which was released as the Bad Batch Arc. Another major story arc would center around Anakin dealing with Ahsoka's absence, but it most likely was the Crystal Crisis arc given the campfire scene. This one got as far as story reels, and was eventually produced (with some minor changes) as part of the seventh season.
• An eight-part Vos/Ventress arc that was turned into the Dark Disciple novel. It would've had Vos act a lot like his more serious and angsty comic book persona. It also would have featured a scene where Boba, Latts Razzi, Highsinger C-21, Bossk, Embo and Marrok would have fought Count Dooku, but it was cut from the novel for unknown reasons, although an unfinished clip was shown at Celebration Anaheim.
• The Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir comic series would have had much bigger fights, including more of Maul vs. Grievous, Maul vs. Mace Windu and Aayla Secura, Maul vs. Quinlan Vos (which was cut entirely), and more of Dooku vs. Obi-Wan and Tiplar. These were all cut from the comic for length issues.

The ones that were nearly made:

• Writer Brent Friedman also revealed a number of interesting factoids about the planned future episodes on his Twitter. According to the team, the plots of some of the more finished arcs should be considered basically canon, at least until they're explicitly retconned.
  • The "Crystal Crisis on Utapau" arc, in which Anakin and Obi-Wan are sent to Utapau to investigate the mysterious death of a Jedi Master, who turned out to have discovered a plan by General Grievous and the Separatists to take a giant kyber crystal and use it for a superweapon. The Jedi Master was originally Depa Billaba and an animation model was made for her until she was replaced with a new original character, Tu-Anh. This one got as far as voice acting and a rough story reel before it was cancelled.
  • Boba Fett, Cad Bane, Bossk, Embo, and more in a new bounty hunters arc inspired by The Searchers, with Bane observing Boba to finally resolve whether he or Jango was the better hunter. At Celebration Orlando in 2017, a clip from the arc was played, showing Boba, Bane, Bossk, Embo, Seripas, and Marrok in an empty town, Bane seems to be working for someone, holding an entire town hostage but Boba, Sugi, Seripas, and a new, unnamed bounty hunter turned on them and tried to take them down. Sugi is hinted to have been killed by Embo and Bossk, who in turn allowed Boba to have a chance to shoot Bane, leading to a dramatic, western-style shootout in which both Boba and Bane are shot, creating the dent in Boba's helmet and killing Bane. Boba also may have reclaimed the Slave 1 from Hondo. In The Book of Boba Fett, it was hinted that Cad and Boba's duel still took place at some point, even if the original scene was changed, and Cad would finally die in that show's season finale when he rematched Boba.
  • There would've been a story arc revolving around Yoda and the Bad Batch working with the Wookiees to fend off Separatists and Trandoshan invaders. There would've been much more mysticism involved, including exploring the Wookiees' religious ties to the forests and the Wookiee elders summoning tree gods to help them fight the invaders, and a conflict between the Bad Batch and the Wookiees. Also, the Kinrath from Knights of the Old Republic would have appeared only to be slaughtered by the Wookiees, because Dave Filoni always found them annoying. This arc also would have involved Echo becoming the fifth member of the Bad Batch, something which eventually happened in Season Seven.
  • A story arc that would have featured Anakin and Padmé returning to Mon Cala and meeting up with Lee-Char, who no longer trusts the Republic after what happened to Ahsoka. The Separatist Quarren leader Tikkes would have been a major antagonist, having Nossor Ri assassinated. Padmé would have also ridden a speeder bike at some point in the arc, and it would have focused on Padmé losing her faith in the Republic, leading to the deleted subplot about the birth of the Rebellion in Revenge of the Sith. It's possible that the various traitorous Senators such as Lott Dod would have been found out here.
  • The 2016 Celebration Europe revealed an arc that would involve Ahsoka joining forces with Anakin and Obi-Wan while attempting to rescue/protect Yoda from factions in the Coruscant underworld attempting to assassinate him. This arc would have revealed the existence of a Sith Temple buried beneath the Jedi Temple (a detail confirmed by the novel Tarkin), which contained giant creatures that nearly attacked the surface and a fight between Ahsoka and Darth Sidious. Granted, the duel mainly consisted of Ahsoka attempting to lock down a holocron vault using her lightsaber as a makeshift welding torch while Palpatine uses the lightsaber as a conduit through which to blast her with Force lightning, but awesome nevertheless. This event was Refitted for Sequel (albeit in a different way) in Rebels, where Ezra and Ahsoka have to prevent Palpatine from gaining access to the World Between Worlds.
    • It was also hinted that the Zillo Beast would've returned to fight these monsters from the Sith Temple.
  • Captain Rex had a story arc that would involve him being injured, which also would have focused on him and R2-D2 working with a reprogrammed super battle droid, which would be destroyed by the end of the arc and its death would affect Rex. Later described as a Top Gun-style arc.
  • A story arc that would've been a creepy and disturbing one using Alien Abduction tropes, similar to the ones used in The X-Files. Only the abducting alien would be a (now Canon Discontinuity) Yuuzhan Vong! They would have been slightly different from Legends, however, as they wouldn't have been immune to the Force, as George Lucas disliked that aspect of them.

Ideas and episode hooks that were proposed:

• A story arc about bounty hunters breaking out the Separatist leaders.
• Paul Dini revealed on a podcast that he came up with two episode ideas that were never used: One involved Anakin and Padmé going to a bar to hire a mercenary, seeing a big guy that looked like Lobo from DC comics, only to see that the mercenary they were looking for is an Ewok. The other was a "Horton Hears a Who" story starring Jar-Jar Binks who finds out a planet the Republic will be testing weapons on has life and he tries to convince the Senate of the species' existence.

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