The Star Wars Rebels season 3 finale is fastly approaching, but before that happens we are going to be treated to an epic rematch nearly twenty years in the making. Darth Maul and Obi-Wan Kenobi are getting ready to square off Saturday on the episode "Twin Suns," but this surely awesome rematch almost didn't happen. Why you may ask? Well, because Darth Vader almost killed Darth Maul at the end of last season.

Star Wars Rebels creator and showrunner (through the end of season 3) Dave Filoni recently spoke with i09 about the upcoming episode of Star Wars Rebels that has fans buzzing. Interestingly enough this episode almost wasn't going to happen and this rematch would have never been possible if the original idea on the table, which was to have Darth Vader kill Darth Maul, had worked out. Fortunately, it didn't, but here is what Dave Filoni had to say about it.

"Originally Maul perished in the season two finale where he returned. It was a one-off appearance... So originally in that episode you were gonna get Vader fighting Maul, Vader would have killed Maul, and then fought Ahsoka... It just became unwieldy... There were too many storylines, and there isn't enough emotional material between Vader and Maul. It's more of a fan fiction fun thought that they fought. The emotional drama was really between Vader and Ahsoka. So we decided to let Maul live."

Those who have seen the Star Wars Rebels season 2 finale can attest to what Dave Filoni says here. There was a lot going on and throwing that fight into the mix really would have potentially muddied things up. The focus really needed to be on that long-awaited duel between Ahsoka and Vader, which was what we wound up getting. In truth, the Star Wars Rebels season 2 finale may be one of the best things to happen to Star Wars since Disney took over in 2012, so it is probably for the best that we didn't see Vader cut Maul down for good. Even though that might have been pretty awesome in its own way, especially since James Earl Jones was providing the voice of Darth Vader in that episode and throughout season 2.

Outside of what it might have done to season 2, Star Wars Rebels season 3 would have been heavily influenced by that particular event as well. A lot of this current season has dealt with Darth Maul and his quest to locate Obi-Wan Kenobi. The episodes Darth Maul has been featured in are not only good episodes, but they are important ones. Plus, more Darth Maul is always a good thing. To that point, getting to see he and Obi-Wan settle a nearly two-decade old score on Tatooine is going to be super satisfying. Or at least we can assume so.

Star Wars Rebels has done an outstanding job with big moments like this and even though many of us would have liked to see this happen in a live-action movie, we can bet that Dave Filoni will do it justice. But watching two famous Sith Lords duking it out would have been neat. "Twin Suns" is set to debut on Saturday, March 18, at 8:30 p.m. EST on Disney XD.