George Lucas made a pivotal change to Attack of the Clones that dramatically altered the film's climax.

The film, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, was released over two decades ago, but still holds significant value to the franchise. The film features prominent characters such as Boba Fett's father, clone troopers, Count Dooku, and the iconic Master Yoda in a lightsaber duel.

Despite receiving mixed reviews, the scene of Master Yoda displaying his martial arts skills in the Geonosis hangar remains memorable to fans. However, according to the prequel's stunt coordinator, this groundbreaking scene was originally slated to look differently than what was ultimately seen on the big screen.

The Original Duel

In a recent interview with Star Wars Theory, prequel trilogy stunt coordinator Nick Gillard shed light on the changes made to the iconic lightsaber duel in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. The final cut of the film saw Yoda, played by Frank Oz, make a surprise appearance and engage in a lightsaber duel with Count Dooku, played by Christopher Lee, but it was not always going to be this way.

Gillard revealed that Yoda was never originally planned to appear in the fight and that George Lucas made the change on the day of shooting. The stunt coordinator stated, "We get there to shoot it as it was, with a much bigger fight with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, and George said he wanted Yoda in it. On that day he said, 'However it starts, the blast doors are going to open and there’s Yoda.'"

Anakin, played by Hayden Christensen, was also supposed to have a much longer fight with Dooku, taking up all the screentime that was eventually given to Yoda in that scene. Gillard explained, "In that fight originally, Yoda wasn’t in it. Yoda’s place was taken up with a much bigger fight with Anakin."

When asked about a promotional image of Dooku holding two lightsabers, Gillard revealed that the image was from the original fight between Dooku and Anakin, which was "very complicated" and even included a "section where they both had two lightsabers." He added, "We did a very complicated fight, in kendo actually, where they both had two lightsabers. That didn’t last long, it must have changed quite quickly."

Gillard further talked about the difficulty in rehearsing the fight, as there wasn't enough room to practice it. He said, "They both had two because I can remember where we rehearsed it, there wasn’t enough room. But anyway, yeah, so that was a thing that went away early, which was a bit annoying because it was lovely with two." He expressed regret that the original duel couldn't make it into the final cut, but also acknowledged the impact Yoda's surprise appearance had on the climax of the film.

The Original Fight Would Have Changed The Prequels

The legendary Jedi master Yoda made his first appearance to fans in 1980's "The Empire Strikes Back." Although he was known for his connection to the Force in the final two installments of the original trilogy, fans did not get to see him in action. That changed in "Attack of the Clones," where Yoda entered the room where Dooku, Anakin, and Obi-Wan were, dropped his cane, engaged in a Force battle with Dooku, and pulled out his lightsaber to display his incredible acrobatic lightsaber skills using Form IV, Ataru.

This moment was significant for the Star Wars franchise as the most revered Jedi master was finally shown fighting on screen. If George Lucas had not made the decision to include Yoda in this fight, fans would have only seen him in combat against Darth Sidious in "Revenge of the Sith."

Yoda's inclusion in the prequels had an impact on the overall story, but how did it affect Anakin? Lucas has always stated that his Star Wars story, including all six films, is centered around Anakin. The prequel trilogy primarily tells the story of Anakin's transformation from Jedi to Darth Vader.

Throughout the three films, certain events push Anakin closer to the dark side. Sith have a tendency to be persuasive, especially when dealing with individuals who have conflicting emotions. At the time of this fight in "Attack of the Clones," Anakin was struggling with the loss of his mother. If the fight between Dooku and Anakin had lasted longer than it did in the final cut, Dooku could have manipulated Anakin's emotions and frustrated feelings, potentially impacting his ultimate turn to the dark side.

All Star Wars prequel films can now be streamed on Disney+.