Twin Suns

The episode was written and directed by series creator Dave Filoni (top), and co-written by co-executive producer Henry Gilroy (bottom).

"Twin Suns" was written and directed by series creator Dave Filoni, with co-executive producer Henry Gilroy serving as co-writer.[1] Filoni was heavily involved in the creation of the episode, believing it would have major implications for all characters involved, including Ezra, the show's main protagonist. He personally storyboarded every scene beginning with Ezra's arrival on Tatooine, wanting to frame Ezra's quest to find Kenobi as a step along his path to becoming a Jedi, which Filoni believes is "about selflessness and sacrificing to help others".[2]

Filoni had also directed the previous Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series, and felt a responsibility to end Maul's story after bringing back the character in that series.[lower-alpha 1] The Rebels production team consulted the Lucasfilm Story Group, which did not have any plans for Maul to appear in future Star Wars media.[2] Maul's debut in the second season of Rebels was thus intended to be a one-off appearance; his death was to be at the hands of Darth Vader, but the writers felt that the two characters lacked an emotional connection and that Maul's death would overcomplicate an already loaded episode. Maul continued to play a minor role in the third season, with Filoni ultimately settling on a meeting between Maul and Kenobi.[3]

The duel between Kenobi and Maul lasts for less than three seconds, ending with a decisive defeat for Maul.[4] The writers knew the decision would be controversial but decided to go against the expectation of a protracted duel in favor of emphasizing the tension behind it, which they believed would better convey the characters' growth. Co-writer Henry Gilroy described the prolonged tension as the two characters "playing [the duel] out in their head" by drawing from their previous encounters.[5] Furthermore, the episode drew inspiration from the 1954 film Seven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa, whose films were cited as major inspirations by George Lucas during the development of the original Star Wars film (later known as Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope).[6] Specifically, Filoni likened Kenobi to the Seven Samurai character Kyuzo, who avoids fighting, knowing the resulting battle would be swift.[2] He also compared the episode's duel to one in the film, where the samurai "is moving with intention and grace," in contrast to his angry opponent, "who is moving his feet a lot and does not have a steady position."[7] This contrast is seen between Kenobi and Maul, and is meant to highlight the former's evolution from a "young brash kid that went into a fight with Maul" to an enlightened master only fighting to protect others, while depicting Maul as a mostly static character consumed by revenge.[2][8] Attention was also given to Kenobi's movements in the lead up to the duel, which again symbolized his evolution; he first takes up the pose of a young Obi-Wan, before switching to the one he uses against Darth Vader in A New Hope; reacting to Maul's movements, he shifts into his final pose, which is that of his former master, Qui-Gon Jinn.[9][10][11] This pose baits Maul into attacking Kenobi with the same move he used to kill Qui-Gon Jinn in The Phantom Menace, which Kenobi predicts and counters, resulting in Maul's defeat.[2] Overall, Filoni hoped the duel could represent one of the most important conflicts in the Star Wars saga, which was "the difference between the Jedi and the Sith […] the Jedi become selfless and the Sith remain selfish."[2]

In the final scene of the episode, the silhouette of a young Luke Skywalker is seen running around the Lars farm while Kenobi watches from a distance. Luke is depicted at the same age is Ezra, whose animation model was reused for the silhouette.[12] According to Filoni, the scene was partly based on his philosophy of "[looking] at every episode of Rebels as if you’ve never seen Star Wars before";[2] it would give new viewers some needed context as to who Kenobi was protecting while satisfying existing fans with a returning character to end off the story.[2] The scene also features the voice of Aunt Beru, played by Shelagh Fraser in A New Hope, from the film's archival footage.[2]

The original cut of "Twin Suns" was 35 minutes; many scenes were subsequently removed to keep the story focused and to fit the show's 21-minute runtime. The episode originally featured a variety of visions haunting Maul while on his journey, including the appearance of Savage Opress, Maul's brother who last appeared in The Clone Wars. However, Filoni ultimately decided against it, as his appearance could confuse and alienate new Star Wars fans in an already lengthy episode. Pablo Hidalgo, a member of the Lucasfilm Story Group, believed that the "stripped down" episode was able to strengthen the core story.[13]

Sam Witwer returned for his final performance as Maul on the show.

Prior to the conception of "Twin Suns", the showrunners had expressed interest in having Ewan McGregor, who portrayed Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, reprise his role on Rebels in a voice performance, as had been done with Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian, James Earl Jones as Darth Vader, and Frank Oz as Yoda.[14] Ultimately, Stephen Stanton, who also voiced AP-5 and Tarkin on the show, was cast to voice an older Ben Kenobi by mimicking the character's portrayal by Alec Guinness in the original trilogy.[15] Stanton had previously voiced Kenobi for the 2005 video game Star Wars: Battlefront II and subsequent Star Wars video games.[16] He was first considered for the role after a conversation with Filoni during a recording session. Stanton was discussing the possibility of Meebur Gascon, a character from The Clone Wars, appearing in Disney Infinity 3.0; he wanted to voice the character in addition to his role as Kenobi in the game. Filoni asked for his Kenobi voice, and co-star Vanessa Marshall prompted Stanton to say Kenobi's line from a A New Hope describing Mos Eisley as a "wretched hive of scum and villainy".[16] Filoni was impressed and invited Stanton to record test tracks for Kenobi, who was to appear in a yet to be approved Rebels episode. A few weeks later, the episode was approved, and Stanton accepted the offer to voice Kenobi. In preparation for the role, Stanton studied archival footage of Guinness, along with his performances from the original trilogy; he later noted the importance of studying the evolution of Guinness' character across the three films as opposed to only looking at A New Hope.[16][17] The voice of James Arnold Taylor, who voiced a younger version of Kenobi in The Clone Wars, is also heard in the holocron message played by Ezra at the beginning of the episode.[5]

"Twin Suns" marked Sam Witwer's final performance as Maul in Rebels, a role he had voiced since Maul's return in The Clone Wars.[9] Witwer was accepting of Maul's death, having been prepared for it ever since he was called back for Rebels; he stated in an interview that his character "had more than his fair share at trying to make his mark on the Star Wars universe".[18] With regards to Maul's future, Witwer described himself as only one of the character's "temporary caretakers", and believed that the episode would probably be his last as Maul.[5] He was nonetheless proud of his contributions to the character and would be willing to return to the role if called upon.[18] Witwer would indeed return as the voice of Maul in Solo: A Star Wars Story alongside Ray Park, who portrayed Maul in The Phantom Menace.[19] Witwer also voiced Maul in seventh season of The Clone Wars, released in 2020.

Series composer Kevin Kiner composed the score for "Twin Suns" by combining motifs from familiar Star Wars music with new compositions. The episode also features the "Force Theme" by John Williams, which plays over the closing credits.[1]