*Spoilers for the latest episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars ahead*
There are many reasons that ‘The Phantom Apprentice’ might be the best episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars that we’ve seen thus far. In addition to the incredible story, fantastic character work, and epically brutal siege battle, we got a lightsaber duel for the ages between Maul and Ahsoka Tano.
As has been noted before, the animation during this season of The Clone Wars has already been spectacular. For this particular sequence, however, the team behind the series somehow kicked it up a notch.
This was thanks in no small part to motion capture work done by Ray Park (Maul) and Lauren May Kim (Ahsoka) for the fight.
Star Wars fans have been familiar with Park for a while thanks to his work portraying Darth Maul back in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Kim may have all earned a spot in our hearts her most recent work, but it’s actually not the first time she’s been part of the Star Wars universe. She also did stunt/fight work for The Mandalorian, including a turn as The Armorer in the scene from Episode 8 where she singlehandedly takes down an entire squad of Stormtroopers.
Yesterday on Twitter, Star Wars fans were continuing to gush about this weekend’s episode of Clone Wars (as we do) when Star Wars fan comic writer Jim Mello expressed his desire for a behind the scenes look at the motion capture process behind Ahsoka vs. Maul.
A little over an hour later, he received a cryptically tantalizing response from Lucasfilm publicist Tracy Cannobbio
Considering how tight-lipped Lucasfilm is about upcoming projects, a tweet like this (from an official Lucasfilm source) is basically confirmation we’ll get at least a glimpse at the process that brought this amazing moment in Star Wars lore to life.
For now, however, we can all go back to anxiously awaiting the emotional devastation of next week’s episode after Order 66 is given.
Join the AIPT Patreon
Want to take our relationship to the next level? Become a patron today to gain access to exclusive perks, such as:
- ❌ Remove all ads on the website
- 💬 Join our Discord community, where we chat about the latest news and releases from everything we cover on AIPT
- 📗 Access to our monthly book club
- 📦 Get a physical trade paperback shipped to you every month
- 💥 And more!
You must be logged in to post a comment.