One of the most thrilling moments in the entirety of Star Wars: The Clone Wars was Ahsoka Tano's climactic lightsaber duel against Darth Maul in the seventh and final season.
To really make the showdown closing out the epic Siege of Mandalore pop, showrunner Dave Filoni brought on original Darth Maul actor Ray Park to physically reprise the role for motion-capture, as revealed in a new behind-the-scenes featurette.
Park had physically portrayed Maul in 1999's The Phantom Menace, making a memorable debut in fast-paced, kinetic lightsaber fights.
Two decades later, Park received the opportunity to portray the fan-favorite Sith warrior one last time as The Clone Wars nears its series finale. From there, animators used Maul's motion-captured performance as the basis to render the furious duel, increasing the speed and heightening the dramatic moves and poses to make it a synthesis of motion-capture and the series' signature CG animation.
Streaming on Disney+, the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars stars Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker, Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano, Dee Bradley Baker as Captain Rex and the clone troopers, James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Katee Sackhoff as Bo-Katan and Sam Witwer as Maul. A new episode arrives each Friday.