10 More Deleted Star Wars Moments You Won't Believe Nearly Happened

While the scene itself may have eventually made its way into the dramatic final chapter in the prequel trilogy, the original version of Sheev Palpatine's lightsaber battle against members of the Jedi Council was reportedly scrapped.

Before George Lucas eventually felt that viewers needed to see a closer look of the eventual Emperor's face during that fight within his office, the idea was to have Ian McDiarmid's stunt double do pretty much all of the duelling (via SlashFilm).

And the test footage eventually revealed on the @gillardstunts YouTube channel revealed a version of this fight that was far more gripping and impressive than the occasionally quite jarring one fans eventually got in Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.

With McDiarmid only having five days to learn his choreography, and admitting himself that he isn't a "master swordsman," the eventual combination of CGI, stunt double work, and rather plodding close-up shots of the actor didn't really gel together well. The whole sequence was a bit underwhelming, to be honest.

Just fully committing to digitally slapping McDiarmid's face onto his stunt double for this electrifying showdown definitely would have been the better call in hindsight, with even these rough test clips feeling far more intense and captivating than the cartoonish end product Lucas pushed for.

If only the director had stuck to the plan, eh.