The Clone Wars: The symbolism behind THAT scene in the finale

It’s the end of an era for Star Wars fans as we’ve now said goodbye to The Clone Wars series. However, there’s a load of symbolism to go over from a certain scene in the episode.

What an emotional rollercoaster! The Clone Wars has come to its actual conclusion with ‘Victory and Death’. We’ll be covering the symbolism of the final scene with Darth Vader. That last moment was a very heavy hitter, especially since the ‘sequel’ to this scene will come almost 20 years later in the Star Wars Rebels Season 2 finale, ‘Twilight of the Apprentice’.

Without further ado, let’s begin and please be warned there will be spoilers.

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Snow on the Moon

Some time after Ahsoka and Rex have gone their separate ways after the scene where Clone Trooper helmets sit on pikes, we visit the same moon where they landed covered in snow and a ship lands and a cloaked figure arrives.

This is the Clone Wars version of Darth Vader. If we look at the snow, we think about where his journey became as Anakin Skywalker on the hot and sandy surface of Tatooine. Now, his life has taken a full-180 turn. He is now alone. His wife and child are dead. The coldness represents how his life has spiraled into something he does not recognize.

Venator Wreckage

The star destroyer that was assigned to Ahsoka and her loyalist clones is put out of commission after Maul disables the hyperdrive. The crash killed every Clone Trooper onboard, except Rex. However, it’s not the wreckage that fascinates us but the symbolism that accompanies it.

The star destroyer buried symbolizes the downfall of the Galactic Republic, fall of the Jedi Order and the descent of Anakin Skywalker.

Breaking these down, we find there’s a great sadness. Palpatine got what he wanted; the downfall of the Republic so he could build his own Empire that he could rule forever. He also got his desire for Anakin to become his apprentice. The reason this fits in with the wreckage is that only Ahsoka and Rex survived just as Skywalker was one of the survivors of Order 66 but as Darth Vader.

Vader Finds Ahsoka’s Lightsaber

Before we witness the snow and Vader’s arrival, we see Ahsoka standing at the makeshift shrine of clone helmets on pikes for every member of the team who died during Order 66. She pulls out one of her lightsabers and drops it in front of the pike with Rex’s helmet on it. Now, we know CT-7567 is alive, and that she knows this. It also adds to the Ahsoka novel where it was made to appear like the captain killed her.

Later, when Vader shows up, he stops and crouches down and pulls something out of the snow. It’s the lightsaber Ahsoka dropped the scene before. The new Sith Lord activates the weapon, and the blade is blue. This is a nod to his former self and the friend he was forcing himself to forget.

What makes this part of the scene so sad is that it backs up what Dave Filoni said a few years ago in an interview about Vader’s feelings towards Ahsoka. He stated that the Sith Lord would not want any memory of her and that she was one of his biggest failures and that he would be angry with her in a very twisted way.

Also, this would be the last time he’d activate a weapon of the light until he examines Luke’s green lightsaber two decades later. The last piece of symbolism we need to add for this is that the blue blade symbolises who Vader once was and of what he once represented.

The Ahsoka Marked Helmet

The saddest detail isn’t Vader with Ahsoka’s lightsaber. It probably has to be the frozen clone trooper helmet with her facial marks. As we see the Sith Lord walk away, there’s a reflection in the eyepiece. This symbolizes how Ahsoka left the Jedi Order and Anakin. Now, it was his turn to leave her and forget that she was a part of his life.

However, if he were still Anakin, Vader would have shown remorse for this and picked up the helmet. It also shows the friendship and sibling-like bond that was forged so long ago is now gone and would never be the same.

What did you think of this scene? Tell us below!