This Star Wars Scene Remains the Closest the Franchise Ever Got to Horror

Published Aug 8, 2026, 8:03 PM EDT In addition to being a die-hard fan of filmmaking, television, video gaming, and anything else with a gripping narrative, Aidan Kelley is also a passionate and detail-oriented writer and journalist at Collider.com. In addition to his work as a Senior Resource Writer, Aidan has also contributed to Collider's features and news reporting sections. He has covered major industry events, such as San Diego Comic-Con and the D23 Expo, and has had the privelege of interviewing industry stars like Bruce Campbell, Maggie Q, Chad Stahelski, and more. This sincere love for the art of storytelling began at a young age, with Aidan making video movie reviews for the news program at his local high school. That love only increased over the years, with an ongoing career in independent filmmaking and screenwriting after graduating with a degree in Film and television from DePaul University. Star Wars has always had its fair share of thrilling moments, with some being scary enough that they could actually come from a horror movie. The many practical monsters that the heroes of the original trilogy face are particularly frightening. The Dianoga monster in the trash compactor from A New Hope, the predatory Wampa snow beast in Empire Strikes Back, and the fearsome Rancor behemoth in Return of the Jedi are all scary aliens, to be sure, but would you believe us if we told you one of the scariest moments from Star Wars comes from one of the animated shows? Yes, while it's true that the majority of Star Wars' animated content is more geared toward younger audiences, they still have some serious bite to them at times. That's abundantly clear in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a show that is repeatedly unafraid to take its darker subject matter seriously. Many times the award-winning series has explored the horrors of war, such as the complex and fascinating Umbara Arc, but sometimes the show ventured into more traditional horror territory. That statement rings true during the time when the heroes of The Clone Wars travelled into the deepest and darkest depths of Geonosis. 'Clone Wars' Channels Horror During the Geonosis Arc One of the earliest arcs of Star Wars: The Clone Wars' second season is the Geonosis Arc. Here, the Clone Wars have returned to the desert planet of Geonosis — the place where the war started during the events of Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. For the first two episodes of the arc, "Landing at Point Rain" and "Weapons Factory," it looks like it's business as usual for our beloved characters. Here, Jedi war heroes Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter), Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor), Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein), and more lay siege on the Separatist-controlled planet, which is still a crucial location for the Confederacy's construction of its abundant droid army. It's also the home base of a prominent Separatist leader, Poggle the Lesser (Matthew Wood), with him and his bug-like Geonosian brethren being fiercely loyal to Count Dooku (Corey Burton). Collider Exclusive · Star Wars Quiz Which Force UserAre You? Light Side · Dark Side · Or Somewhere Between The Force is not a binary. It is a spectrum — from the serene halls of the Jedi Temple to the shadowed corridors of Sith space. Ten questions will reveal where you truly fall. The Force has always known. Now you will too. 🔵Jedi Master 🟡Padawan 🔴Sith Lord ⚫Inquisitor ⚪Grey Jedi IGNITE YOUR SABER → 01 What is the Force to you? Your relationship with the Force defines everything else. AA living energy I must be worthy of — it is not mine to control. BSomething vast and mysterious I'm only beginning to understand. CNeither light nor dark — just a current I choose to ride. DPower. Pure and simple. The strong take it; the weak don't. NEXT QUESTION → 02 When you feel strong emotions — anger, grief, love — what do you do? The Jedi suppress. The Sith feed. Others choose differently. AAcknowledge them, then release them. Attachment leads to suffering. BFeel them fully, then decide what to do — they're not the enemy. CBury them. Emotion is a liability I can't afford to indulge. DUse them. Passion is the engine of the dark side for good reason. NEXT QUESTION → 03 The Jedi Council gives you an order you disagree with. You: How you handle authority reveals your alignment. AFollow it. The Council's wisdom surpasses my own perspective. BVoice my objection clearly, then defer to the decision. CComply outwardly while doing what I think is right. DIgnore it. The strong don't answer to committees. NEXT QUESTION → 04 You are offered forbidden knowledge that could give you enormous power. The cost is crossing a moral line. You: The dark side's pull is never more than a choice away. ARefuse without hesitation. There is no cost worth that price. BWeigh it carefully — sometimes darkness holds real answers. CFeel the pull but walk away — for now. DAccept it. Power justifies the method used to obtain it. NEXT QUESTION → 05 Your approach to training and learning is: A student's habits become a master's character. ADedicated but humble. There is always more to learn from my masters. BRigorous and patient. Mastery is earned through years of discipline. CEclectic — I draw from every tradition, not just one. DRelentless and brutal. Pain accelerates growth. Rest is weakness. NEXT QUESTION → 06 In a duel, your lightsaber fighting style reflects: Combat is the purest expression of a Force user's philosophy. ADefense and composure — I wait for my opponent to overcommit. BFast and instinctive — I trust the Force to guide my movements. CUnpredictable — I blend styles to keep enemies off-balance. DOverwhelming aggression — I end fights before they begin. NEXT QUESTION → 07 A defeated enemy lies at your feet, powerless. You: Mercy — or its absence — is the truest test of alignment. AStrike them down — compassion toward enemies is naïve and costly. BNeutralize them permanently. I can't afford loose ends. CSpare them if I can — but stay clear-eyed about the risks. DOffer them a chance to surrender. Every being deserves that. NEXT QUESTION → 08 The Jedi Code forbids attachment. Your honest view on love and bonds: The source of the greatest falls in the galaxy. AThe Code is right. Attachment clouds judgment and invites suffering. BLove is not a weakness — the Jedi Code got this one wrong. CI have no attachment — only loyalty to my master's mission. DI feel it deeply but struggle to reconcile it with my training. NEXT QUESTION → 09 Why do you use the Force at all? What's the point? Purpose is the difference between a knight and a weapon. ATo learn. I'm still figuring out what I'm capable of. BTo protect and serve. The Force is a responsibility, not a gift. CTo survive — and maybe carve out something worth having. DTo dominate. Strength demands to be expressed, not contained. NEXT QUESTION → 10 At the final moment — light side or dark side pulling at you — what wins? In the end, every Force user faces this moment. What does yours look like? AThe light. I choose peace, even when darkness would be easier. BNeither fully — I carve my own path through the middle. CWhoever I serve — my loyalty defines me more than my morality. DThe dark. Power is the only thing that's ever actually been real. REVEAL MY ALIGNMENT → Your Alignment Has Been Determined Your Place in the ForceThe scores below reveal how the Force sees you. Your highest number is your true alignment. Read on to understand what that means — and what it will cost you. 🔵 Jedi Master 🟡 Padawan 🔴 Sith Lord ⚫ Inquisitor ⚪ Grey Jedi Disciplined, compassionate, and deeply attuned to the living Force, you have walked the path long enough to understand its demands — and accept them. You lead not through authority alone, but through example. You have felt the pull of the dark side and chosen otherwise, every time. That is not certainty. That is courage. You are earnest, powerful, and brimming with potential — and you know it, which is both your greatest asset and your most dangerous flaw. You act before you think, trust your gut over your training, and sometimes confuse impatience for bravery. The Masters see something in you, though. The question isn't whether you have what it takes — it's whether you'll be patient enough to find out. You are not simply dangerous — you are certain, and that is worse. You have decided what the galaxy needs, and you have decided you are the one to deliver it. Your power is genuine and formidable, earned through sacrifice that would have broken lesser beings. But examine your victories carefully. Every Sith believed their cause was righteous. The dark side's cruelest trick is that it agrees with you. You were forged in fire and reshaped by those who found you at your lowest. You serve, because service gave you structure when you had none. Your allegiance is not to an ideology — it is to survival and to the master who gave you purpose. But there is something buried beneath the conditioning. The Jedi you hunt? You recognize them. Because you remember what it felt like before the choice was taken from you. You have looked at the Jedi Code and the Sith Code and found both of them incomplete. You walk the line not out of indecision but out of conviction — you genuinely believe both extremes miss something essential. The Jedi don't fully trust you. The Sith think you're wasting your potential. They're both partially right. But so are you. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ While the battle on the surface of the planet goes in the Republic's favor, the depths of the planet harbor a much darker secret. This is where the third episode of the Geonosis Arc, "Legacy of Terror," begins — an appropriate title for a terrifying episode. The Jedi are at a loss when Poggle the Lesser is seemingly nowhere to be found on the planet. Not only that, but Jedi Master Luminara Unduli (Olvia d'Abo) has gone missing, reportedly last seen searching for Poggle. This prompts Anakin and Obi-Wan to lead a search for the prominent Jedi council member, and neither of the experienced Jedi generals could have possibly prepared themselves for what awaited them underneath the planet's surface. The Geonosis Arc of 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' Turns Into a Full-Blown Zombie Movie Image via Disney+ Anakin and Obi-Wan track Luminara to a mysterious (and remarkably creepy) temple, which is adorned with iconography that Obi-Wan believes is representative of the Geonosian Queen (Dee Bradley Baker) — a creature that is largely thought to be mythical. The signs that this isn't the case soon become clear, as it doesn't take long for Anakin, Obi-Wan, and their contingent of Clone Troopers (Baker) to run into a large group of unusual Geonosian warriors. The bugs were already scary enough in Attack of the Clones, but the zombified versions are even more formidable. Not even a blaster shot to the head or dismemberment with a lightsaber can kill the relentless foes. Aesthetically speaking, these sections in the Geonosian catacombs are shot as if they came straight from a George A. Romero zombie film. Their sunken and lifeless white eyes of the creatures strike fear into the experienced battle-hardened heroes with minimal effort. There are even a few moments where they take part in some jump scares when they ambush two clones who unfortunately get separated from their squad. The brilliant creative decision to have the pathway be only illuminated by the Clones' flashlights and Anakin and Obi-Wan's lightsabers makes the dark catacombs feel even darker. Eventually, the episode goes full Aliens when Anakin and Obi-Wan finally face the Geonosian Queen. Unlike her children, the Queen is capable of speaking basic English and seems remarkably intelligent. She reveals that the cause of the zombification process is brain worms that she lays. Once a host is infected (Geonosian or not), they become a slave to the Queen and do her unthinking bidding. In the end, Anakin and Obi-Wan are able to rescue Luminara, arrest Poggle, and bury the Queen. However, just like most horror stories, this seemingly easy defeat is only the beginning. Ahsoka Eradicates the Brain Worm Infection in ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ Image via Cartoon Network The end of "Legacy of Terror" sees Obi-Wan wishing he could get a sample of the brain worms to study. He lives to regret that because one does survive, and it infects an unwitting Clone Trooper named Scythe in the following episode, "Brain Invaders." Here, Ahsoka and her new Padawan ally, Barriss Offee (Meredith Salenger), are tasked with leading a routine medical supply run. Of course, Scythe just so happens to be one of the Clones assigned to the mission. Even worse, he brings a bunch of brain worm eggs and infects most of the Clones on board. This episode is more Invasion of the Body Snatchers and less Night of the Living Dead like the last episode. Here, we see the brain worms aren't just capable of turning beings into zombies, but also controlling their thoughts to make them masquerade as the host's normal selves. This leads to Ahsoka, Barriss, and the few Clones who haven't been infected having to decide who is a friend and who is a foe. While few of The Clone Wars episodes dip truly into the realm of horror, the Geonosis arc is the perfect example of the genre-bending the series was able to do when the show was allowed to be creative.