Is The Unfinished Utapau Arc of Star Wars: The Clone Wars Worth Watching?

Star Wars: The Clone Wars was completed but never finished. A truncated seventh season finally arrived years after the show’s cancellation, offering a spectacular finale and wrapping up the main story threads, but multiple stories that were written, or in some cases even crudely animated, were never fully produced. Some became novels, others comics, and some elements weeded their way into other series. Yet one arc came so close to full production that it was included on the season 6 Blu-ray, with finalised voice tracks but only very basic PS1 cutscene level animation. I had never seen this ‘story reel’ before, but to finish up my latest rewatch I thought I’d right that wrong and embrace the ‘Crystal Crisis on Utapau’ arc for the canon storytelling it is.

Having the episodes feature Obi-Wan facing off against General Grievous on Utapau so close to the events of Revenge of the Sith is partly why I’ve ignored this arc until now. It doesn’t sit right with me. And while it doesn’t contradict anything in the film, I’m still not totally onboard. It’s like when Anakin went to Mustafar in season 2. With such a huge galaxy of possibilities, it lessens the impact to know the characters are already familiar with these pivotal worlds and their actions repeated rather than definitive.

Thankfully the episodes add to Utapau rather than just reusing it. As the show is wont to do, the arc fleshes out the sinkhole planet into a richer landscape. There are different settlers on the world, multiple species and tribes within those species. The Amani, background characters from Return of the Jedi, get some time to shine and it’s unfortunate their big moment came in an arc that was never finished. Thankfully they’ll get some love in the upcoming The Mandalorian and Grogu movie. Yet the main villainous species of the arc are the Sugi, arm dealers from off world, so it doesn’t quite take full advantage of the location. They could be based on any planet, it’s just happenstance it occurs on Utapau.

It is a real shame these episodes were never finished because they offer something that became increasingly rare as the series progressed and that the latter seasons would have benefitted from: Obi-Wan and Anakin on a mission together. As the show evolved it shifted focus, overall for its betterment, but I do enjoy seeing the two of them together again. It’s been a long time since they got to lead an arc. And it begins as a fun murder mystery plot for them to unravel, fully embracing the genre like the noir detective scenes of Attack of the Clones did. There’s the interviewing of suspects, an autopsy aided by the force, and a reconnoitre of the crime scene where they have to track the trajectory of a laser beam. If only it was fully like that scene in The Wire and Obi-Wan and Anakin say nothing but ‘karabast’ for five minutes as the work the scene.

Anakin might be the biggest success story of the show, making him a much more well-rounded and interesting character than the prequels did (and I say that as a fan of the prequels). However he’s pretty unlikable in this arc. This is intentional, sure, but maybe a little overplayed across the four episodes. His unpleasant qualities, hinting at his fate, are usually well balanced with his noble actions. Here he’s drifting towards the dark side so much I was begging Obi-Wan to challenge him on his actions. Anakin angrily threatens an innocent Toydarian who reminds him of Watto, destroys a droid he’s supposed to take intact because it frustrates him, and uses the force to turn on his lightsaber while an alien is looking into it, skewering his face. It’s so dark but Obi-Wan shrugs it off with an ‘oh, Anakin.’

The two have plenty of banter but never get into true conflict that would have taken the arc to the next level. I’m left thinking maybe Obi-Wan is a little to blame for Anakin’s fall considering there were so many signs that he ignored. But overall I think this is a great arc for Kenobi. In pairing him with his former apprentice, the episodes force the viewer to compare the two. Anakin may have incredible skill and power but Obi-Wan proves himself continually as the better Jedi. He can communicate with the Amani and can form strong bonds quickly with Utapau’s beasts of burden. Obi-Wan even respects the Sugi enough to honour their dead. Well, if piling them all in a big heap, Jawa-style, counts as respect.

The arc’s best scene comes in the second episode where Obi-Wan and Anakin do finally have some kind of heart-to-heart. Anakin is struggling to deal with Ahsoka’s decision to leave, seeing it as a personal rejection. That by walking away she failed him and the Jedi. It’s a big moment, one that the show desperately needed. As the series stands, Ahsoka leaves and isn’t discussed until her return. I do like her absence in season 6, it’s important to feel the loss of her, miss her, before her return, but the emotional impact on Anakin is such a big thing that the show needed to follow up on. I’m glad we get that here, despite the unfinished state. Anakin and Ahsoka were paired together by Yoda specifically to teach Anakin to let go once her training was complete. Unfortunately, it ending like this clearly did more harm than good. 

Further making this arc feel like its from the early days of the show, not only are Anakin and Obi-Wan the lead heroes, they have to face General Grievous. The villain was backgrounded as the show continued because there’s only so many times he can lose and still be imposing. This arc handles that pretty well and actually has him best Kenobi, capturing the Jedi when he easily could have killed him. There’s also the continuing gag of making sure Grievous and Anakin never meet, with the two walking past each other without realising. The arc also finally gives the MagnaGuards their due, offering them more to do than any episode previous, including kill a Jedi. I’ve never heard the word “MagnaGuard” said aloud so much; it felt kinda weird. Also strange was Obi-Wan saying the term “force grab” like it’s a video game ability.

The plot centres on a weapons deal, with Grievous attempting to purchase a huge kyber crystal, obviously to be used as part of the Death Star weapon. Given the amount of stories we’ve had focused on kyber since, it doesn’t seem that engaging or unique a story, but back when the episode was developed I’m sure it was a big step in explaining the Death Star. Being unproduced, elements of this arc did inform later stories. The Empire seeking huge crystals was covered in Rebels. James Hong plays an arms dealer in these episodes, but because his performance never made it into the finished show, he was given a similar role in Rebels. Yoda’s line “in legends we often find great truths” was also repurposed for Rebels, although with added meaning after the old EU was branded as ‘legends’.

While the story reels of these episodes were singed off by George Lucas and Dave Filoni, ready to move down the pipeline towards final animation, I have to imagine some tweaks would have been made. At least with the little morals, or ‘cookies’, that appear onscreen at the start. The final one reads “if at first you don’t succeed, destroy it.” That has to be a joke, right? Although it’s not the only quote from the arc I had trouble with. At one point Obi-Wan says “That’s no mound… that’s a space ship” which is a little too cute for my taste. And Kenobi also sites “the Yavin Code, as determined by the Yavin Convention.” It’s basically the Star Wars version of the Geneva Convention and I’d prefer if it was named after anything but Yavin. That should be a backwater planet barely anyone knows about rather than a famous system.

After watching through the entire series multiple times, it was a pleasure to have brand new episodes of The Clone Wars to watch. It’s amazing that, with the completed voice acting, music, and sound effects, you get used to the basic, janky animation quite quickly. I don’t think the arc needed to be four episodes. It’s overstuffed with chase scenes of every kind, and the action grows wearisome. Although the scenes with the old school sci-fi laser gun or Anakin wielding blasters rather than a lightsaber make for some unique action moments. There’s some good stuff in the arc, not as developed as I’d like it to be, particularly Anakin’s conflict and inner torment, and Obi-Wan’s response to it, but getting it in this unrefined form is better than not getting it at all. It’s a key part of the tapestry of The Clone Wars and I’ll be adding this arc to my watchlist whenever I rewatch the show from now on.