New Lucasfilm president Dave Filoni has explained why Darth Sidious only appears in a handful of episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the Rebels follow-up. The explanation may be due to technical reasons such as the character's cloak simulation. Filoni also mentioned that he was mindful of avoiding treading on George Lucas' narrative toes while working within the gap between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.