'Star Wars' Ditches Darth Vader's Replacement, Honors George Lucas's Work

SPOILERS FOR AHSOKA PART FIVE: “SHADOW WARRIOR”

Everyone knows how Anakin turned into Vader, and that’s why he is one of the biggest villains of pop culture. Lucasfilm made the right choice not to bring Darth Vader’s replacement back into Star Wars for Ahsoka

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For Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka, it was clear in Ahsoka Part Four: “Fallen Jedi” that something was up with Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker as Vader’s theme played right before the credits rolled. With this week being shown in theaters, fans had high expectations, and one thing became clear. If Ewan McGregor hadn’t put Vader in a mechanical suit, he would’ve been unstoppable.

Ahsoka needed to finish her training, and that led to re-experiencing parts of the Clone Wars with Anakin and Rex as they fought on what appears to be Ryloth and also in the Siege of Mandalore. With Ahsoka realizing just how much she was taught to be a soldier, she tells Anakin that her legacy can’t be only war and death, and he reminds her what his final lesson is. To live or die. His iconic blue saber was replaced with red as the fallen version of Anakin attacked Ariana Greenblatt’s Ahsoka, and fans were able to see Anakin as Vader for a few glimpses before their lightsabers clashed.

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One of the lines used Hayden Christensen’s voice with some of Vader’s voice to make a perfect merge of the two but showed why AI recreating the dark lord of the Sith’s voice isn’t necessary. James Earl Jones, the iconic voice for Vader, has retired, leaving his role vacant, and Lucasfilm isn’t going to replace him with another actor. Instead, they got the right to use AI to recreate the actor’s voice. In Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader’s voice was entirely made from AI, which worked well but wasn’t the same. Darth Vader’s replacement still had some emotion, and some fans didn’t even notice the difference, but it was clear that Disney shouldn’t need to use the AI when you have Hayden Christensen around.

In Ahsoka, Vader’s AI voice wasn’t needed, and this was honestly better because the story needed more of Anakin Skywalker anyway. Dave Filoni showed fans why great storytelling doesn’t require nostalgia because while Clone Wars fans lost their minds over seeing Anakin in Clone Wars-styled armor in live-action, it was meant to show off that Anakin followed his teachings to the point of no return. He fought as a soldier and lived no matter what, ending up to be Darth Vader, one of the worst villains in Star Wars.

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The Chosen One chose a path very few would follow, and this might be the final time that Vader appears onscreen. With Hayden Christensen getting older, Vader’s time in Star Wars won’t be needed much longer, and what stories are they going to tell that need Darth Vader anymore? Disney won’t bring Darth Vader into a story unless they absolutely deserve to appear. Dave Filoni did a great job showing fans why Anakin and Vader’s story is some of the best storytelling that George Lucas did and honored it by finishing telling the story between Anakin and his apprentice in live-action.

New episodes of Ahsoka premiere every week at 6 p.m. on Tuesdays on Disney+!

Do you think Star Wars should bring back Darth Vader’s replacement? Let Inside the Magic know what you think!