No one has done more to rehabilitate The Phantom Menace than Dave Filoni

To describe something in the Star Wars galaxy as divisive is merely to say that it exists. With each new movie or TV series that comes out, the fandom gets increasingly fractured, with factions picking sides and digging in on multiple fronts. The discourse has gotten so toxic that it almost makes the debates from 25 years ago over whether Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace did or did not have the power to ruin actual childhoods seem quaint in comparison. Not that people ever really stopped arguing about it. But in recent years there seems to be a shift towards a reconsideration of the prequels, a trend that’s generated plenty of “they weren’t that bad, actually” takes, including on this very site. Whether it’s a generational thing, or merely the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia, you can’t count out the influence of the most prominent champion of the prequel trilogy, other than George Lucas himself: Dave Filoni.

Filoni has become a controversial figure within the fandom too, of course. Some worship him, others despise him, but there’s no denying that he lives and breathes Star Wars. As the guiding force behind Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, and later as Lucas’ chosen successor to lead the creative direction of Lucasfilm, Filoni had the opportunity to delve deeper into the characters, connections, and relationships glossed over in the prequels. He’s spent the better part of the past two decades building out the Star Wars universe in ways that add context and depth to the lore. Sure, he’s angered some fans by stepping on the continuity established in the Expanded Universe, now called Legends, but he also orchestrated the resurrection of Darth Maul (at Lucas’ behest) and brought Grand Admiral Thrawn from the pages of Timothy Zahn’s novels into the main canon, first in animation and then in live-action (in last year’s Ahsoka series).

Just listening to Filoni talk about the prequels can be enlightening. There’s a clip of him that’s been going around fandom circles for a couple years now, from a roundtable discussion filmed for the behind-the-scenes series Disney Gallery: Star Wars: The Mandalorian. Filoni talks about the stakes of the three-way lightsaber battle at the end of The Phantom Menace, often referred to as the “Duel of the Fates” after John Williams’ iconic musical theme.

“What’s at stake is really how Anakin’s going to turn out,” Filoni says of the climactic fight between Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Darth Maul. “Because Qui-Gon is different than the rest of the Jedi, and you get that in the movie. And Qui-Gon is fighting because he knows he’s the father Anakin needs.”

When Qui-Gon was killed by Darth Maul, Filoni explains, Anakin lost the closest thing to a father figure he’d ever had. Obi-Wan reluctantly steps up to train him, but their relationship is never more than brotherly. The lack of a father figure is what sets Anakin on the path to becoming Darth Vader, and it all goes back to that fateful duel.

It seems so obvious when Filoni puts it in these terms. Maybe it doesn’t make up for the overreliance on dodgy CGI, cringe-worthy dialogue, or the walking disaster that was Jar Jar Binks, but it does make you think differently about that sequence and how it ties into the entire Skywalker saga. Similarly, once you’ve watched his shows, especially The Clone Wars, you’ll never look at the prequels the same way again.

Building character through relationships

Most of The Clone Wars series is set between Attack Of The Clones and Revenge Of The Sith, giving the audience a chance to better know the characters from those films, as well as new ones. One of the ways Filoni does this is through their relationships, to one another and to the systems they are beholden to. We see more of Anakin as a hero before he’s seduced by the dark side, and everything that happens in the series provides more justification for that transformation to come. In the 2008 Clone Wars film that launched the show, we are introduced to Ahsoka Tano, Anakin’s own Padawan. Their relationship becomes central to the story, and it’s through her that we see what might have been if the Jedi Council had been just a little more understanding. Padmé also gets more fleshed out as a capable diplomat and skilled negotiator. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan gets a tragic love story with the pacifist Mandalorian ruler Duchess Satine Kryze, and has his own crisis of faith when it comes to the Jedi way.

Making it make sense

Lucas introduced a lot of new concepts to the Star Wars universe in the prequels, like the Jedi Council, the clone troopers, and the mysterious Sith Order. Some of these ideas, like midi-chlorians, those little microscopic guys who communicate the will of the Force to their hosts, were misunderstood and ridiculed. Filoni took it upon himself to provide logical explanations to resolve these retcons and fit them into the existing lore. For instance, in The Clone Wars he sends Yoda on a quest to the unnamed home planet of the midi-chlorians, where he learns about different aspects of the Force.

The series also gives the members of the Jedi Council more screen time. It’s not necessarily to their benefit, though. In fact, their blind spots and rigid adherence to an outdated code make it easier to understand how Anakin became so disillusioned with the Jedi that he wound up slaughtering a temple full of them. It’s not just about Padmé, either. When Ahsoka is framed for bombing a Jedi temple and accused of sedition, Anakin helps exonerate her. But after she refuses to rejoin the Order that so easily cast her out, all he can do is watch his former Padawan walk away. When he finally turns to the dark side in Revenge Of The Sith, this incident makes him seem less like an entitled brat and more like a frustrated warrior worn down by the Jedi’s stubborn refusal to adapt or see reason. The Clone Wars highlights those schisms, and even gives villains like Count Dooku (aka Darth Tyranus) and General Grievous more opportunities to clash with the saga’s heroes.

Another element from the prequels that Filoni expanded upon were the clone troopers (and that’s still going on in The Bad Batch). To explain why the clones turned on their Jedi allies so remorselessly after Order 66, we learn that they were each implanted with inhibitor chips that forced them to turn and slaughter any Jedi they encountered. We also find out that they can be removed, deactivated, or overcome, through the Force or other means. The formerly interchangeable soldiers get individual names, personalities, and strong opinions. Seeing Order 66 play out on the ground level makes it much more personal.

Clearing up the continuity

The continuity of Star Wars has always been kind of a mess. When the creators themselves (Filoni included) can’t keep it straight, and even the films and TV shows that are supposed to be canon contradict each other, how can casual fans be expected to keep track of it all? With a lot of patience and a high tolerance of minutiae, apparently. After Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012 the powers-that-were cleared the board for the new sequel trilogy by wiping the Extended Universe from the canon and relabeling it Legends. The only material created prior to 2014 that’s still considered canon are the films, plus The Clone Wars and Rebels. What that means—besides a lot of pissed off fans of the books, comics, games, and other supplemental material—is that every character Filoni managed to smuggle into the shows from the EU, like Grand Admiral Thrawn, got grandfathered into the new Disney-approved continuity.

It also means that Darth Maul’s resurrection happened just as it was depicted in The Clone Wars, allowing him to appear again in live-action in 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story. But that one isn’t only due to Filoni. It was Lucas who wanted to bring Darth Maul back. When Filoni asked him how that was supposed to work, given that the audience saw him fall down a shaft in two pieces, Lucas reportedly responded, “I don’t know, you’ll figure it out.” That he did.

Bringing it full circle

You could make the argument that the prequels should be able to stand on their own, without any further context needed to appreciate them. Watching The Clone Wars, Rebels, or any of the other projects that address the trilogy’s plot holes and weak spots, won’t erase the shortcomings of Episode I, II, or III. But Dave Filoni and his team at Lucasfilm seem to have no plans to leave them alone anytime soon. Just last year, Filoni wrote an episode of Ahsoka in which she worked through her complicated feelings about her former mentor and got some much needed closure through a vision. The audience got some closure too, with the unexpected treat of seeing Hayden Christensen don Anakin’s robes once again (after he reprised the role for the first time since 2005 in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series). With an upcoming feature film on the horizon that will tie all of the current shows together, we have a very good feeling that we’ll be seeing him again. At least, we hope so—and hope is what Star Wars is all about.