Star Wars: The Clone Wars revived for one more season on Disney streaming service

Today at the 10-year anniversary San Diego Comic-Con panel for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, fans were hit with news they couldn’t have seen coming even from a galaxy far, far away — after an abrupt ending, Dave Filoni’s CG animated series will return for one last season on Disney’s new streaming service.

The announcement was heralded during the panel with the hashtag #CloneWarsSaved, and fans of the 2008 series were quick to rally on Twitter. The series was originally cancelled in 2013 in order to make room a new series, Star Wars: Rebels, and the Star Wars sequel trilogy. The announcement came with a new trailer as well, bringing fans attending the panel to a standing ovation.

As Lucasfilm’s official announcement reminds us, The Clone Wars never really wrapped up:

The Clone Wars ended after five broadcast seasons — just as Ahsoka left the Jedi Order. A few post-Season Five episodes were later released as “The Lost Missions,” but the story wasn’t over. Fans have clamored for Disney and Lucasfilm to finish what was started ever since. And now it’s actually happening.

“Any opportunity to put the final pieces of the story in place is meaningful as a storyteller,” Filoni said in an interview for StarWars.com. He elaborated on why the show resonated with people for all these years. “I think the variety of stories was a big part of it. You also can’t underestimate how important it was that so many people grew up with the show. Clone Wars was a piece of Star Wars that older fans might have, initially, not taken seriously because it was animated, but that wasn’t a barrier for kids. They loved the clones and identified with them. Ahsoka gave kids a character that was like them — someone their age that was experiencing life’s challenges and learning along the way. Plus, having a new episode each week really allowed us to explore what was going on with the new and legacy characters in a dynamic way, including Anakin and Obi-Wan. I think the stories left an indelible impression and, of course, George knew it would. He always knew.”

As revealed at the panel, the new season will cover The Siege of Mandalore, a story arc that focuses on Ahsoka Tano and her relationship with the Jedi Order in addition to concluding the series’ eighth season prior to its cancellation. Now that the series is back, the long awaited Siege of Mandalore is finally a reality.

Disney has yet to announce a launch date for its streaming service, which also include a new, original Star Wars series from Iron Man director Jon Favreau. That means we don’t know when Clone Wars will actually be available to binge — just that it will. Lucasfilm announced 12 all-new episodes for the series, which should be enough to wrap things up the way Filoni intended.