The seventh and final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars packed a lot of surprising moments for fans, but what still stands out in the highly acclaimed Siege of Mandalore story arc are the poignant and reflective last few moments of the show.
Expectations were pretty high for the return of Dave Filoni’s animated series. Not only would the story tie directly into Revenge of the Sith, but it’d also feature Order 66 and a duel between Ahsoka Tano and Darth Maul. And surprisingly, The Clone Wars once again delivered on all fronts. Granted, the first story arc was approachable at best and the second one, concerning the return of Snips, was mostly made up of filler narrative segments. But the executive producer didn’t waste a moment as soon as the show launched into the long-awaited Siege of Mandalore.
At that point in the story, Episode III and the seventh season’s timelines coincided, with Anakin and Obi-Wan facing a dilemma at the heart of the Republic as Ahsoka went off to confront Maul and retake Mandalore from the insurgents. While episode 8, “Old Friends Not Forgotten,” was the last time we saw Anakin, Filoni decided to end the show with a surprising cameo from none other than Darth Vader.
Now, artist Kilian Plunkett, who’s worked on both The Clone Wars and Rebels, has explained how he sketched and designed the Chosen One for the series finale by sharing two pieces of concept art, which you can see below.
Here’s what the artist had to say about the process of bringing Vader back to life one more time in the medium:
“The process for this design was unusual,” He revealed. “Normally I’d create the 2d art and the geometry of the final model would be based on that. This time, I opened the 3D model of Vader from ‘Rebels’ and tweaked it to fit the Clone Wars look. Then I worked over flat renders to make these clean, detailed drawings.”
The final moments of Star Wars: The Clone Wars were ominous and thoughtful, and honestly, the addition of Vader wasn’t merely in the service of a cheap surprise. The dark lord was there to confirm that his old Padawan is dead, perhaps as a sense of closure to a life he once knew. The inclusion of Morai, the female Convor bound to the Daughter on Mortis, was also another example of symbolism in that scene.
What were your thoughts on the ending, though? And did you find this conclusion to the story satisfying? Sound off below.
