Suvudu Universe

Before I start off with the topic of this post, make sure to tune in to the latest episode of “Now, This Is Podcasting!” where Randy, Jason and I talk about Star Wars villains, Episode VII, and much more!

Once you’ve done that and rated us on iTunes, you may want to check out Rebel Report‘s second episode, featuring Star Wars: The Clone Wars writer Brent Friedman, who’s written season four episodes “Deception,” “Friends and Enemies,” “The Box,” and “Crisis on Naboo” and season five episodes “Secret Weapons,” “A Sunny Day in the Void,” “Missing in Action,” and “Point of No Return.” He has created memorable characters like Rako Hardeen, Moralo Eval, Meebur Gascon, and Republic Commando Gregor.

During the interview, Friedman was asked whether there were other Star Wars: The Clone Wars characters, besides Cad Bane, that he would like to see in Star Wars Rebels. Starting at 55:17, this is what he had to say:

The only other character and kind of just going to the opposite end of the spectrum would be Rex. It’s funny because to be perfectly candid I kind of took Rex for granted. You know, when I started first writing on The Clone Wars, he was just a loyal soldier and I didn’t think too much about him. And then, for my, what would have been season eight arc…the arc I wrote was a really fun but actually kind of dark in its own way arc. I won’t say it was a buddy story, but it was Rex and R2 on an absolutely mind-blowing adventure. I really fell in love with writing R2 when I was writing the droid arc. And so the opportunity to write R2 again is why I jumped at it. In the course of writing that arc, I really fell in love with writing Rex–with his character. They were such a great mismatched pair because Rex is so by the book and wants to be in control of everything, and R2 is such a maverick and goes his own way. It was just really fun putting the in so many different circumstances. So seeing Rex having to survive again under the influence of the Empire…when he was part of this entity that has gone bad would be really interesting. I would love to see him start to become more maverick and start to become much more of a rebel. That would be a really fun character arc to explore.

That cracking sound you just heard was the sound of my heart breaking all over again. It was established back in March 2013 that the plan was to go as far as season eight. Hearing that confirmed again by Friedman and reinforcing the fact that we were supposed to have three more seasons just brings me to tears. I’m sure some people have moved on and others are ready to start a whole new future of Star Wars, but I’m still struggling. I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ll say it again. I’ve always been a Star Wars fan, but I didn’t immerse myself into the fan community until Star Wars: The Clone Wars entered my life. I vividly remember going to the theater on my own just a few months after I graduated from Cornell and purchasing a ticket to see the animated feature on the big screen. I have a terrible, terrible memory, but that day is one of the memories I treasure the most.

Needless to say, I’m still bitter. I have no issue stating that I would rather have more seasons of Star Wars: The Clone Wars than have the sequel trilogy and Star Wars Rebels combined. No issue whatsoever. The fact that all of that work had been done and the lights just suddenly went out makes me shake my head in disappointment. Am I acting childish? Maybe. Am I being narrow minded? It wouldn’t be the first I’ve been accused of that. I believe in seeing things through, and if a vision had been created and work had been put into making it a reality, then it should have been seen through to the end.

That’s my take on that, so here’s the actual content of the post I wanted to get to:

Friedman stated that the Captain Rex and R2-D2 arc was something that was going to appear in season eight of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Knowing that detail, we can assume that Rex lives up until what was supposed to be the final season of the series. Going back to what Dave Filoni said about Captain Rex’s fate, he poses the following questions, “Does Rex learn so much from Anakin and his other friends that he grows out of what his original, primary purpose was to be a soldier? Does he become something much more? Or does he really just embody what it means to be a good soldier, to be that person that in his own way–even though he’s not a Jedi–is selfless because he’s fighting for the rights and the freedom of other people?”

We all have our theories, but I think Rex was that good soldier that fought for the rights and freedom of other people until he realized something “dark” or twisted about the events leading up to Revenge of the Sith and perhaps that moved him to grow out of his original and primary purpose. Is this the arc where we finally get to see Rex’s fate? Friedman did state that the arc he wrote was “really fun but actually kind of dark in its own way.” Why was it dark? What sort of scenarios did Rex and Artoo find themselves in? Is this the arc that pushes Rex into making a decision about his future?

Thanks to the big decisions made over at Disney, we will probably never know. Although we won’t have actual footage of this arc, there might be a sliver of a chance that we could see this arc transform into something else. A novel? A comic book series? Who knows? Concepts and stories are constantly recycled, and maybe, if we’re lucky, we might get to see Rex and Artoo’s excellent adventure.

No, not that excellent adventure!