10 Deleted Scenes From Star Wars: The Clone Wars That Would Have Changed Everything

Star Wars: The Clone Wars found great success because of its structured storytelling and the way it connects to the larger Star Wars galaxy; however, some deleted scenes could’ve changed everything. The Clone Wars mainly followed Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, on their many adventures during the Clone Wars. The show takes place between Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith and helped give context to the Star Wars prequels, ultimately reshaping opinions on the trilogy.

The Clone Wars ran for seven seasons, with the finale premiering six years after the show’s initial cancelation. This gap allowed for the characters’ journeys to be better fleshed out in other Star Wars films and shows, like Ahsoka and Captain Rex in Star Wars Rebels. However, with seasons 6 and 7 being shorter than the other five seasons, there were far more storylines and scenes that ended up getting cut from the final product. While time constraints make it hard to include everything, 10 cut scenes could’ve changed the scope of the Star Wars franchise forever.

10 Anakin Skywalker Duels Ventress in the Rancor Pit

The Clone Wars Movie

The Clone Wars was special because it also included a theatrical release, which introduced Ahsoka Tano as Anakin Skywalker’s apprentice. One of their first missions is to rescue Jabba the Hutt’s son, Rotta, and return him to the crime lord on Tatooine. However, when Anakin and Ahsoka arrive on Teth, they are confronted by Asajj Ventress, and the trio falls into a rancor pit. A deleted scene includes a duel between Ventress and Anakin, showing the history between the two. The duel is incredibly entertaining, including snarky quips and a lightsaber battle on top of a rancor. The scene is completed, including music, something many other entries on this list don’t include.

9 Boba Fett Trains With Cad Bane

Season 7, Canceled Bounty Hunter Arc

When The Clone Wars season 7 was in production, George Lucas had already sold Lucasfilm to Disney and Dave Filoni had become one of the main creators. Filoni has gone on to create and write for multiple titles in the New Republic Era, including The Book of Boba Fett, which included a scene where the bounty hunter Cad Bane came to Tatooine to visit his former mentee. This relationship was explored during The Clone Wars, though the storyline was ultimately cut. Deleted scenes show how bad of a mentor Cad Bane was to Boba Fett, which ultimately sets up their conflict in The Book of Boba Fett‘s finale.

8 Anakin Calls Out Mace Windu and Master Yoda

Season 4, Episode 17 “The Box”

The Clone Wars season 4 featured a storyline that showed Obi-Wan Kenobi faking his death in order to impersonate a bounty hunter to gain intel. Part of this included the Jedi Council hiding the fact that Obi-Wan was alive from Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano, both of whom were heartbroken over the loss. In a deleted scene, Anakin confronts Master Yoda and Mace Windu after sensing Obi-Wan. The two deny Anakin’s accusations and tell him that he’ll be apprised when he needs to be. This scene would’ve been another point of tension for Anakin and the Jedi, further justifying his descent to the dark side.

7 The Nightsisters Train With Ventress

Season 3, Episode 12 “Nightsisters”

The Clone Wars season 3 saw Asajj Ventress reunite with her people, the Nightsisters of Dathomir, after Count Dooku was ordered to have her killed. Ventress would then go on a revenge path, trying to kill her former master, training other Nightsisters so they could help assassinate the Sith Lord. While this deleted scene isn’t overly important to The Clone Wars, with the recent appearance of the Nightsisters in Ahsoka, it would’ve been amazing to see how these female warriors trained and given audiences more insight into the range of their power.

6 Anakin Confronts The Jedi Council For Ahsoka

Season 5, Episode 18 “The Jedi Who Knew Too Much”

Ahsoka Tano being framed for bombing the Jedi Temple in The Clone Wars season 5 was heartbreaking, especially because she felt the Jedi didn’t believe in her innocence. In a deleted scene, Anakin confronts the Jedi Council, telling them that she is innocent of the crimes she’s been accused of. Not only does this show Anakin’s concern for Ahsoka, but also highlights Master Yoda’s wisdom, as he tells Anakin that while the evidence points at Ahsoka, he doesn’t believe she bombed the Temple. He encourages Anakin to act on Ahsoka’s behalf before it’s too late. If this scene had been included, it would’ve made Ahsoka’s departure from the Jedi even more devastating.

5 Palpatine Bests Maul and Savage

Season 5, Episode 16 “The Lawless”

An extended version of Palpatine’s lightsaber duel with Maul and his brother, Savage Opress, from The Clone Wars season 5 displays just how skilled Darth Sidious was in lightsaber combat. This duel was one of the few times in all of Star Wars that Palpatine was seen wielding his red blades, and the extended version of the fight better highlighted his strengths. Additionally, the extended scene feels like Palpatine was doing a bit of showboating, demoralizing the brothers before besting them. It’s also one of the few times a Sith-on-Sith duel is seen, so seeing more of how they match up would’ve been fascinating.

4 Umbaran Banshee Attack

Season 4, Episode 8 “The General”

The Umbara Arc was one of the most devastating and heartbreaking arcs in all of The Clone Wars, featuring clones unknowingly killing each other under the orders of Jedi General Pong Krell. In a short deleted scene that features Captain Rex and Kix shooting off bat-like creatures that were trying to attack and eat injured clones, the situation on Umbara is made to look much more bleak. The clones lost many men during that battle for no good reason, and adding environmental issues to that situation adds to the heroism of men like Rex and Kix who survived the battle and took on Krell.

3 The Son Of Dathomir Arc Was Completely Scrapped

Season 6, Canceled Son Of Dathomir Arc

The Clone Wars season 6 was called “The Lost Missions” and featured a few arcs that rounded out and filled other Star Wars plot holes, including the clone army’s inhibitor chips. Darth Maul’s “Son of Damothir” arc was planned and later cut, showing his escape from Palpatine’s clutches after he was captured in The Clone Wars season 5. The scripts for these episodes were written but unproduced so that The Clone Wars season 6 could be shorter. The story highlighted once again Maul’s resolve and need for revenge, only this time it was against Darth Sidious and Count Dooku, not Obi-Wan Kenobi.

While Maul’s story wouldn’t play out in animation, this storyline was transformed into a canonical comic book series, which was released in 2014 by Dark Horse Comics. The four-part miniseries called The Son of Dathomir details not only Maul’s escape from Palpatine, but also his teaming up with his mother, the Nightsister Mother Talzin, along with his Shadow Collective crime syndicate to take on the Sith Lord. This storyline certainly would’ve been amazing to see in animation and would’ve connected Maul’s stories in seasons 5 and 7 much better.

2 Anakin And Obi-Wan Discuss Ahsoka’s Choice To Leave the Jedi

Season 7, Canceled Crystal Crisis Arc

In a deleted scene, Obi-Wan tries to console Anakin after he admits to missing Ahsoka. Anakin still holds contempt for the Jedi Council from when Ahsoka was framed for bombing the Jedi Temple, but Obi-Wan reminds Anakin that he cannot take responsibility for Ahsoka’s decision, as she made it on her own. The scene ends on a somber note when Anakin asks Obi-Wan if he would sleep well at night if he had turned into a major disappointment. Obi-Wan replies that it’s a non-issue because Anakin has made him proud; however, audiences know that in a short amount of time, Anakin will fall to the dark side.

1 The Son Meets With Ancient Sith Lords

Season 3, Episode 17 “Ghosts of Mortis”

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With the Mortis gods likely being a major part of Ahsoka season 2, a deleted scene from The Clone Wars season 3 now holds a lot more weight. In the scene, the Son, who represents the dark side of the Force, speaks with ancient Sith Lords. The Sith seem to be using the Son as a way to get to Anakin Skywalker. They tell of a dark side user who will rule the galaxy, and that whoever controls the Chosen One will control everything. Before this, it didn’t seem like the Mortis gods could be influenced by other entities, especially the spirits of dead Sith Lords.

This deleted scene means that the Mortis gods aren’t immune from outside influence, and that may factor into their role in Ahsoka season 2. Despite this, many of these deleted scenes or canceled arcs from The Clone Wars would’ve been worthy additions to the show and enriched the characters’ stories. Due to cancelations and time constraints, many of these remained unfinished. Filoni is always looking to fill plot holes and boost these characters, so there’s a possibility some of these scenes will be revisited in projects like Tales of the Jedi season 2 or more lost mission arcs for The Clone Wars.