Unpopular Opinion: These Two Really Should Have Died During the Clone Wars

Look, I get it, some fans love seeing their favorite characters survive past the Clone Wars, especially when they get more development later on. But there’s something to be said for letting a story end where it hits hardest. And in the case of The Clone Wars, two characters in particular should have died before the era ended: Ahsoka Tano and Asajj Ventress.

Their survival may have opened doors for more stories, but honestly, it also softened the emotional impact of the fall of the Republic. These characters were woven into Anakin’s life, his fall, and the larger tragedy of the Clone Wars. Watching them survive, retconned into future timelines, strips away some of the finality that made the end of that era so devastating.

Ahsoka’s Death Would Have Made Anakin’s Fall More Tragic

Throughout The Clone Wars, Ahsoka Tano evolved from a reckless Padawan into one of the most grounded, morally centered characters in the entire Star Wars saga. Her arc was never just about becoming a great Jedi—it was about seeing the cracks in the Order, learning from them, and growing beyond them. She represented what the Jedi could’ve been if they hadn’t lost their way. And that’s exactly why her survival, in some ways, undercuts the tragedy of the Clone Wars.

If Ahsoka had died during Order 66—gunned down by the very clones she once led—it would have added devastating weight to the end of the war. We already know Order 66 shattered the Jedi, but Ahsoka’s death would’ve made that collapse personal. It would have been a blow not just to the galaxy, but to Anakin specifically. He had already lost trust in the Jedi Council. He already felt betrayed and isolated. Losing Ahsoka would’ve destroyed whatever hope or restraint he had left.

Ahsoka’s death could have acted as the emotional breaking point that the prequel trilogy only hints at. Without Ahsoka, there’s nothing tethering Anakin to the light, not emotionally, not morally. Her death wouldn’t just hurt him. It would change him. It would give us a clear, gut-wrenching sign that the Republic era had ended and something darker had begun.

That said, even if we accept that Ahsoka survived Order 66—one of the deadliest, most orchestrated events in galactic history meant to wipe out her kind—her journey could have still ended in a meaningful way later. Specifically, Twilight of the Apprentice gave her the perfect ending. On Malachor, she confronts the terrible truth: her beloved master, Anakin Skywalker, is now Darth Vader.

That moment wasn’t just powerful, it was haunting. It was the kind of confrontation Star Wars had been building toward for years. And narratively, it felt like the place where Ahsoka’s story should have ended. She discovered the secret that broke her heart, stood her ground, and refused to run. Facing Vader, she told him, “I won’t leave you. Not this time.” And in return, Vader coldly responded, “Then you will die.”

If she had died right then, on the ruins of an ancient Sith world, fighting to save the last piece of the man she once knew, it would have completed her arc in the most tragic and poetic way. She would’ve died not as a Jedi, not as a soldier, but as a symbol of resistance against everything Anakin had become. Her death would’ve marked the end of the Jedi era in a way that mattered, and it would have reinforced just how far gone Vader truly was. No hope, no redemption, not yet.

Instead, she walks away. Mysteriously. Quietly. And while her survival opens doors to new stories and cameos, it also takes away the sharp edge that her death would have given the narrative. With her alive, the tragedy of Anakin’s fall gets another emotional escape hatch. With her gone, it would have stayed burned into the galaxy’s history.

Ventress Should Have Stayed Dead

Ventress’s entire character arc is steeped in loss, betrayal, and survival. From the beginning, she was a victim of the very system that created the war. She was abandoned by the Jedi, used by the Sith, and discarded when no longer useful. Her anger wasn’t just personal—it was built from years of being manipulated by forces more powerful than her.

What made her journey so compelling wasn’t just her power or rage, but how much of it came from pain. And that’s exactly why her death during the Clone Wars would have been the perfect conclusion. After everything she endured, choosing to make one final, selfless act—perhaps to protect someone who once would’ve been her enemy, would have brought real emotional closure. She started as a weapon of darkness, but dying with purpose would have turned her into a symbol of quiet redemption.

Her death could have also served as a turning point in the tone of the Clone Wars. By that stage in the war, the story needed more than just battles—it needed loss. Not just the death of random Jedi or faceless soldiers, but the fall of someone we’d come to understand. Someone complex. Someone like Ventress. Letting her live beyond the war risks softening her impact. Her pain told a story, and her death would have completed it.

By surviving, that story gets stretched. But by dying, it could have hit where Star Wars often hits best—right in the heart, with the brutal reminder that not everyone makes it out, even the ones who almost find peace.

Fun Fact: Ahsoka Was Originally Meant to Die in the Clone Wars

Here’s something not every fan knows, Ahsoka Tano was originally supposed to die in The Clone Wars. That came straight from George Lucas himself.

In the early development of the series, Lucas envisioned Ahsoka’s story ending with a heroic sacrifice during Order 66. Her death would’ve delivered one of the final emotional blows that pushed Anakin toward the dark side. Losing his Padawan in the chaos of the Jedi Purge would’ve added another deeply personal tragedy to his fall, making his transformation into Darth Vader hit even harder.

But Dave Filoni chose a different path. He let Ahsoka live and evolve beyond the Clone Wars, carving out a legacy that now stretches into Rebels, The Mandalorian, and her own series. Still, that original plan shows just how powerful her death could have been—and how much more tragic the Clone Wars finale might’ve felt if it had played out that way.

As Filoni revealed in a 2013 featurette:

“I don’t think it’s a mystery that I’ve always been a bit more into the ‘Ahsoka Lives’ camp. And George has been very full-on in the ‘Ahsoka Dies’ camp. So I thought expelling her from the Jedi Order is a good move towards that end. And we stand on that bold, new frontier for her. Things have changed. She’s not the same character.”