Dave Filoni talks new arcs for Star Wars: The Clone Wars

As we all know by now, The Clone Wars has ended its run on Cartoon Network after bringing us five seasons of stories in a galaxy far, far away. But in his farewell video to the fans, supervising director Dave Filoni promised us ‘bonus material”, in the form of a few story arcs that were already slated for production, before the series was canceled.

In speaking with USA Today Filoni had this to say: “There are questions that are pretty big as far as it comes with the Clone Wars and things that people have wanted to know. They’re just these concepts just hanging out there, and finally we’re going to deal with them.”

He goes on to say one of the arcs features Jedi Master Plo Koon, finding a lost lightsaber while on a mission with a clone trooper platoon. Filoni teases that It’s the beginning of a mystery, and one that will make the Jedi question their role in the Clone Wars and the universe itself! (what?)

Filoni continued: “The Jedi have been fighting a war with an army that was commissioned by one of their own, Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas. But who was Sifo-Dyas, and what happened to him? The dark Lord of the Sith has woven an intricate web to ensnare the Jedi, but it is not full-proof and sometimes a small clue, and a bit of chance, can lead to the unraveling of the best-laid plans.”

Interesting, I’m not sure what plans he is referring to since we all know that Order 66 took place. I also thought Master Sifo-Dyas’ fate was common knowledge. But I have faith in Filoni, he more than anyone has keep the Force alive for the next generation of fans.

Filoni’s team is almost done with the animation but no word as of yet when we will see these episodes. He talks about finally getting done:

“It’s bittersweet in some ways for the members of the team but we’re all pretty excited about what we have coming back,” he says. “They are easily some of the best things we were able to do, and I think we’re all glad we were able to finish them.”

They go on to ask him about Ahsoka, Anakin’s apprentice who turns her back on the Jedi order after being framed for a crime, she leaves not liking what she sees in the Jedi:

“One of the goals I always had for her was to have her become the one that walks away,” Filoni explains, “the one that realizes that you have the left and the right of things, you have the Separatists, you have the Republic, and at the end of the day you can make a decision to say, ‘This is ridiculous. I’m not for this. Both sides are wrong and I see it.’

“That’s a pretty brave choice for her to make, and that’s a statement about how Anakin trained her and even Obi-Wan’s influence on her that she takes this middle path as a way to giving people another option.”

Many fans myself included, were kind of let down with this ending. Filoni addressed this:

“A lot of people want more closure with her, and that’s always been curious to me since we aired that episode. It seems to imply that, I hate to say it, but short of her dying they don’t feel like there’s going to be any kind of closure for that character,” Filoni says with a laugh.

“Just the fact that people want to know, frankly, is pretty exciting. I’m sure some people out there are like, ‘Well, the kid’s gone. Fine.’ But there are a lot of people who I’ve talked to who are just like, ‘What happens next? I have to know!’ And I’m like, ‘Well, I wanted to know a lot of things, too, growing up, and I had to wait.’ It’s a fun thing at this point.”

We know that Filoni will continue at Lucasfilm and is working on a new series. When asked about about his role at Lucasfilm:

“What I’d like to do is take whatever I learned and, like you’re supposed to, pass on your experiences and knowledge you’ve gained. You want to help more generations of people as they come to this and it’s a heavy burden. I know as well as anybody what it’s like to work in the universe of Star Wars.”

I don’t know about you, but that sort of sounds like a Jedi to me.