The sixth season of the animated show Star Wars: The Clone Wars, known as The Lost Missions, was initially planned as a complete 22-episode season. However, only thirteen episodes were finalized after the show's cancellation from Cartoon Network in March of 2013. The Lost Missions first aired on the German television channel Super RTL, between February 15 and March 8, 2014. Following the announcement of an exclusive licensing agreement with Disney and the ABC Television Group, Netflix exclusively released The Lost Missions to American and Canadian viewers on March 7, 2014.
Back in September of 2011, Christian Taylor, who was the head writer at the time, revealed that they had already finished writing through Season Six. Production on the sixth season had commenced by October of 2012, with Series Supervising Director Dave Filoni confirming that his team had started working on the scripts and designs for the season in Star Wars Insider 137.
Lucasfilm made an announcement on March 11, 2013—after the fifth season finale—stating that active production of new episodes for Cartoon Network had stopped. However, the studio continued to produce story arcs that had not yet been released. In the weeks following the announcement, clips from episodes that would have been part of Season Six were shown, and were still intended for release, despite the show's removal from Cartoon Network. During the "Secrets of Star Wars: The Clone Wars" panel at Celebration Europe II, Filoni suggested that there was a small chance Season Six might eventually be broadcast on television.
On October 11, 2013, Filoni announced that his team had completed production on the remaining The Clone Wars episodes and that they were scheduled for release in early 2014.
On January 16, 2014, the German TV network Super RTL announced its plans to broadcast episodes from the show's "sixth season" on Saturdays, starting on February 15 with the premiere of four new episodes and continuing over the following weeks. On February 13, 2014, StarWars.com announced that the show's final thirteen episodes would be released as "The Lost Missions" on Netflix in the US and Canada on March 7, as part of an agreement that also included the show's feature film and the first five seasons. The "Launch Pad" section of Star Wars Insider 148 revealed the titles, plot summaries, and credits for the episodes in English.
The Lost Missions became available on Netflix on March 7 at 12:01 am PT, effectively bringing Star Wars: The Clone Wars to its conclusion. To coincide with the Netflix launch, StarWars.com published official episode guides for each of the final season's thirteen episodes.
Starting on June 9, 2014, The Lost Missions became accessible on seven additional online platforms, including Apple iTunes in the US and Canada, Amazon, Google in the US and Canada, Microsoft in the US and Canada, Sony in the US and Canada, Verizon, and Vudu. The episodes were released on Blu-ray and DVD on November 11, 2014.
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Facebook (post) (June 9, 2014): "We're excited to announce that The Clone Wars: The Lost Missions are now available on the following platforms: Apple iTunes (US & Canada), Amazon, Google (US & Canada), Microsoft (US & Canada), Sony (US & Canada), Verizon, VUDU" (content obsolete and backup link not available)
- Dave Filoni on Facebook (post) (October 11, 2013): "Star Wars fans - I have some exciting news!" (backup link)