Yes but it would have justified using Hayden more. Plus they could have used them to make the Clone Wars material fit with canon better as a few only see the live action stuff as so.
You don't need to "justify using Hayden" more, nor do you need to connect it to the Clone Wars. You nee to tell the best story you can in an economical way, without pointless asides and fan service.
I know it's hard to swallow, since most recent SW content is 90% fan service, but it's actually very, very poor storytelling.