Jedi Master Shaak Ti was such an important member of the Jedi Order during the collapse of the Republic that Star Wars changed her death story multiple times over the years. In fact, it is almost comical how one character could die so many times.
Jedi Master Shaak Ti was a leading member of the Jedi Order during the last days before the Jedi Purge. Her most prominent roles were as a Jedi High Council member, a Republic general and the Republic’s representative on the cloning world of Kamino. There, she oversaw the creation and training of clones that would fight in the Grand Army of the Republic and defend its democracy. Ultimately, Master Shaak Ti died by way of Anakin Skywalker’s blue blade and was the first Jedi Council member that Darth Vader killed.
Revenge of the Sith begins with Obi-Wan and Anakin infiltrating the Separatist's flagship, the Invisible Hand, and the context behind their attack is important. They were there to rescue the supreme chancellor of the Republic, Sheev Palpatine. What the movie does not show is how Palpatine was captured. The sinister and malicious General Grievous attacked Coruscant from secret hyperspace routes and caught everyone by surprise. With the planet in chaos, Shaak Ti was tasked with protecting the chancellor and getting him to a safe bunker, but she proved no match for Grievous.
In a behind-the-scenes clip, George Lucas explains, “Shaak Ti had been with Palpatine and had been captured. And that [Anakin and Obi-Wan] had been following her homing beacon to where Palpatine was.” The deleted scene that Lucas was referencing shows how General Grievous was originally intended to kill Shaak Ti after taking her as a prisoner. General Grievous is all about spectacle, so when Anakin and Obi-Wan arrived at her signal, Grievous was ready. After allowing Shaak Ti to announce her failure to the newly arrived Jedi, General Grievous plunged her own lightsaber into her back.
The reason this scene was cut from the final version actually had little to do with the plot. In another behind-the-scenes clip, Lucas says, “Scenes are deleted in a primarily movie because the movie’s running long and we need to shorten things.” In the original version, the beginning act of Revenge of the Sith was over an hour long, and Lucas needed it under half an hour. Thus, much of the time spent on the Invisible Hand was cut, including the original death of Shaak Ti.
However, there is yet another version of Shaak Ti’s death. In Legends continuity, Shaak Ti escaped the Jedi Temple only to be hunted down on Felucia by Darth Vader’s secret apprentice, Starkiller. This death was retconned, along with the rest of The Force Unleashed, when Disney bought the rights to Star Wars.
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