NARRATOR: Welcome to "Star Wars The Clone Wars Download."
In this episode, we're going to take a look
at "The Phantom Apprentice."
- The time of the Jedi has passed.
They cannot defeat Sidious.
But together, you and I can.
NARRATOR: On Mandalor, Ahsoka finds herself face to face
with Maul and his crew--
but they were hoping for someone else.
- I was certain that Kenobi would have come himself.
NARRATOR: With Maul's plans dashed,
he takes it into his own hands to get answers
while Ahsoka, Bo-Katan, and Rex also try to find out the truth.
- What name?
- Skywalker.
NARRATOR: As a battle on Mandalore ensues,
Maul and Ahsoka meet once again-- but this time she
wants answers, and he delivers-- resulting in them crossing
blades and Maul being captured.
- We'll take it from here here, commander.
NARRATOR: And now we have an incoming transmission
from Dave Filoni.
Here's what he has to say.
- Hello, I'm Dave Filoni, supervising director
and executive producer of "Star Wars The Clone Wars,"
and you're here to learn a little more
about the finale of the series.
The last four episodes, and this particular episode,
"The Phantom Apprentice."
It was a big deal when we brought Darth Maul back.
Part of the puzzle is always who's
going to voice this thing.
I knew I needed this unique portrayal,
and knowing Sam Witwer, I thought,
this is a guy that's really going to invest in this
and bring life to it.
And Sam portraying Maul had forged a relationship with Ray
over the years.
Ray was so into the fact that we had brought Maul back.
He was really excited by it, and I just thought here, you know,
we have a really important lightsaber fight.
And I've just got to figure out a way
to have Ray be a part of that.
I approached him about doing motion capture for it,
and he was all about it.
I think a villain is most compelling when they're
largely telling the truth.
I think for Ahsoka, she's trying to balance
the fact that she knows the Jedi are
a bit blind to what's going on.
She knows they've made a lot of the wrong moves.
She knows Maul was also ostracized by Darth Sidious.
There is a lot of similarity between the two of them,
and there is an opportunity there
to take him up on his offer, which is,
again, maybe-- you know what?
Together they could eliminate Sidious.
So you're talking about the lesser of evils.
Of course, the concern there has to be
that Maul's actually seeking power for himself,
and power is intoxicating.
And once you start down the dark path, forever will
it dominate your destiny.
So as she gains greater power, how does she know the limit
to whether she's making the right decision
or the wrong decision?
And Ahsoka's choice, Maul's offer
is all part of that bigger opera of the battle between being
selfish or selfless.
NARRATOR: Now let's hear what cast and crew had to say
about "The Phantom Apprentice."
- Maul and Ahsoka in the tunnels--
we always wanted Ahsoka to be lit.
You light the character that's most important.
You let everything else fall away.
It's a rule that we have in lighting.
And so Dave, going into that whole sequence,
wanted to make sure that when Maul appears,
he comes out of the darkness, and that Ahsoka is trapped.
And she's trapped not just in a literal sense,
but in a story sense.
- What was interesting about working on this season
was we had to go back to the Clone Wars Maul, who's
a little bit more controlled and methodical
than, say, the eccentric, older Malachor Maul.
Dave, because his live action experience was really
directing more of a film read for me for Maul,
which I really enjoyed--
because usually when it comes to voiceover for animation,
you put a little bit more into the voice because that's all
you got.
You can't really just monotone your way through a performance,
whereas when we were doing "Solo,"
you hold back on the voice a little bit.
You're not as expressive, because you're in the sort
of live action world.
And in this case, Dave wanted that sort of live action
read for Maul.
- These scenes with Maul were some of the most
difficult scenes to record.
This is a moment where Ahsoka is now on her own.
She had to truly find her strength.
I'm so thankful to the direction from Dave,
and thankful to have the time, and the freedom,
and the space to really work on this scene.
Because it was truly one of the most emotional
scenes of the entire season.
- I always felt that Star Wars fights are all about the values
of the two characters that are fighting,
and that's what determines how the fight goes.
And Maul is not at his best when he's
fighting to save the galaxy.
And Ahsoka is at her best when she's
fighting to save her friend.
What "Clone Wars" does, it sets up a
join me scene where, really, the good guy-- or good girl--
should say yes, possibly.
That was the really fun riff we have there,
is that we haven't seen a join me
scene where the bad guy actually has the better plan.
NARRATOR: Last week, we asked if you had any questions
about "Old Friends Not Forgotten."
@thomaslharper asked, Anakin returning
Ahsoka's lightsabers with a few upgrades
was an incredible moment.
Did Anakin find a way to alter her kyber
crystals to emit blue blades, or did he
somehow swap them out entirely?
Dave Filoni, executive producer and supervising director,
answered, Anakin knows enough about
lightsabers to be able to alter the angle
or frequency of the saber blade, or crystal,
to make it more like his own.
As far as the story goes, I wanted to show a clear
connection between the master and apprentice relationship
of Anakin and Ahsoka, so I decided
to shift her lightsabers to blue, like Anakin's.
Him tinkering with her lightsabers while she is gone
shows that he was always thinking of her.
And the lightsabers are then a representation
of her in the story, and his thoughtfulness regarding her.
His changing the color can also be
seen as him exerting control, or being too protective,
which is very Anakin.
He means well, but often takes things too far when
trying to express how he feels.
Changing the sabers, modifying them, improving them shows
his care, but also his ego--
something that Ahsoka is familiar with.
So the simple adjustment of the lightsaber color
serves as many aspects of the relationship
between the two characters.
Have any burning questions about "The Phantom Apprentice?"
Tweet us your questions using the hashtag #clonewarsdownload,
and maybe you'll see your question answered on the show.
Want to learn more about this episode?
Head to starwars.com/the phantomapprentice to check out
the episode guide, and don't forget
to check back next week for a deep dive into "Shattered."