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Until season 7 of The Clone Wars, I never actually realized how great Kilner’s scores can be when he’s not just remixing those familiar Star Wars go-tos. In “Shattered,” the unnerving use of what sounds like a synthesizer’s long, sonorous notes feels more like Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch’s moody score for Blade Runner 2049, than anything from a galaxy far, far away. Unlike the Western swagger of Göransson’s Mandalorian music, the score for the newest Clone Wars is, at times, like cyberpunk mixed with that funky blaster-beam V’ger action from Jerry Goldsmith’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture score, specifically, shades of a track called “The Cloud.”
But, even though it’s edgy, dark, and weird, Kilner’s score for The Clone Wars finale is also notable because it digs deep into some Williams material we don’t readily associate with the show. Revenge of the Sith is many things, but to say it has a lazy score would be untrue. Of all the prequel films, Revenge of the Sith has some of the most haunting and experimental Williams compositions in all of Star Wars. If The Empire Strikes Back is Williams’ Revolver, then Revenge of the Sith is The White Album.
In “Shattered,” Kilner mines the deep-cuts of the Revenge of the Sith score but spins some of these themes in really compelling ways. When Order 66 happens to Ahsoka, we get some traces of tracks like “Anakin’s Dark Deeds,” but before that, in the ominous waiting before everything goes to hell, the essence of “Padme’s Ruminations,” and even a bit of “Palpatine’s Teachings,” run through all of those scenes.
This works thematically, but it also works chronologically. At this point in Ahsoka’s journey, the events of Revenge of the Sith are happening concurrently with The Clone Wars. You could argue that, when some of these selections are playing in The Clone Wars, they’re also playing in Revenge of the Sith at the same time. (I’m not suggesting you play the scores at the same time. I’m not insane.)
Williams’ influence aside, Kilner has done something fairly original in “Shattered.” With very rare exceptions, the majority of animated Star Wars, could, on its worst days, sound like it has “trailer music” playing in the background. This isn’t to say it’s offensive or anything, just that its unremarkable, and not super fun to listen to removed from what’s on the screen. For example, I personally, have never been crazy about the not-so-subtle reshuffling of the Star Wars main theme used in the vast majority of opening credits for The Clone Wars. Thankfully, since part 1 of the finale, “Old Friends Not Forgotten,” that specific version of the main theme has been absent. In a sense, it feels like The Clone Wars finale — and season 7 as a whole — has allowed Kilner to take on Star Wars in a new way, rather than bringing the sound of Williams’ classic music to the animated series.
