This Star Wars Rebels Character Was Nearly Killed in Season 2

While it may have been an animated adventure that excited young fans, Star Wars Rebels still delivered a number of compelling storylines and unexpected deaths, with Kanan Jarrus actor Freddie Prinze Jr. recently noting that his character came close to being killed in the second season of the series. Instead of being killed by Maul in the fateful conflict, Kanan was instead blinded, an injury he dealt with over the course of the rest of the series. Prinze also noted that Kanan's Season 2 death was an idea he and series creator Dave Filoni had, yet Disney seemingly wanted the character to stick around a lot longer.

"Dave and I talked about me dying at Maul's hand, at the end of Season 2, but then the same people who didn't want me for the project suddenly said, 'No, he can't die. He has to be in every episode,'" Prinze shared with Collider. "So, I guess I won them over, at some point. There were definitely some stand-out moments in there. The fight with Maul getting blinded was special. Teaching Sabine was special. The death, which everyone gives me the most credit for, has nothing to do with me. There's no dialogue there. That's all Dave, the animators, music, and people more talented than me that made you think it was me. But nothing will top the audition. The audition was still the best part."

These latest comments from the actor echo similar remarks Filoni has made about the character's death, having detailed that Prinze was one of the biggest supporters of Kanan's fatal sacrifice.

"Well, it was something we knew was going to happen from very early on," Filoni confirmed with CinemaBlend back in 2018. "It's something that Freddie was adamant, he felt needed to happen. And he was right. But you have to do it in a way that's not like, 'Well, of course that was going to happen because he's the mentor character.' George [Lucas] had taught me a long time ago [that] when you kill off a character, especially a main character, that it has to be meaningful. The kids watching especially have to understand why we're doing it, why was that necessary, how does it feed the story."

Despite fans having said goodbye to Kanan years ago, the sprawling and expanding nature of the Star Wars franchise means we can't rule out a live-action appearance of the character at some point in the future.

Stay tuned for details on the future of the Star Wars saga.

Do you think the character should have been killed in Season 2? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!