Dave Filoni, the creator of Star Wars Rebels, has spoken about his decision to kill off one of the show’s main characters in the final season.
Star Wars is used to killing off wise mentor figures throughout its illustrious history so when Kanan perished in Star Wars Rebels, perhaps fans shouldn’t have been as shocked as they were.
The Jedi’s death was certainly a sad moment, however, and Dave Filoni has now spoken about why he wanted to kill off the character to CinemaBlend: “Well, it was something we knew was going to happen from very early on. It’s something that [actor] Freddie [Prinze Jr.] was adamant, he felt needed to happen. And he was right. But you have to do it in a way that’s not like, ‘Well, of course that was going to happen because he’s the mentor character.’ George [Lucas] had taught me a long time ago [that] when you kill off a character, especially a main character, that it has to be meaningful. The kids watching especially have to understand why we’re doing it, why was that necessary, how does it feed the story.
“So something that we spoke about very early on in the story was that I wanted to do this episode but I wanted to have several episodes after that deal with that event. That they could not just go back to being on an adventure the next episode, that the characters had to really feel the loss, because I felt the audience would feel the loss. And I wanted them to understand why Kanan does what he does and that it’s a selfless choice, that it’s out of love and compassion for his friends.”
There’s no question Kanan’s death was handled well and absolutely served a purpose in the story, not to mention the impact it had on the Ghost’s crew. Do you think it was the right decision to kill Kanan? Or would you have handled his fate a little differently?
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