It’s not the first time we’ve seen Anakin Skywalker’s former padawan Ahsoka Tano in live action but with the debut of Star Wars: Ahsoka on Disney+, it will be the first time that the Star Wars animated world explodes into live-action, as the one-time Jedi to-be will be joined by fellow animated characters from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels.
Don’t get us wrong – seeing Ahsoka make guest appearances on The Mandalorian, and hearing her mention Thrawn was exhilarating for fans, but newcomers might be a tad confused as to who she is since she is somewhat of a new creation, and one of a small handful of non-live-action Star Wars characters from Lucasfilm to make the transition to Disney when the House of Mouse bought the galaxy far, far away.
Before Ahsoka was asked to train Grogu in the ways of the Jedi in The Mandalorian, she served as a padawan to Anakin, making her debut in the animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008), and in the subsequent animated series (2008–2014; 2020) of the same name. Her on-screen history has been short, but also a long one, making her one of Star Wars’ favourite and beloved characters. From a young padawan to a Jedi Knight in exile, and leading up to the search for fellow Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger, here are five things you need to know before watching Ahsoka on Disney+.
1) The Rise and Fall of Ahsoka Tano
From her first appearance in the animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the 14-year-old Togruta, voiced by Ashley Eckstein, has been a force to be reckoned with and is famously known for wielding dual lightsabers in combat. She was Padawan to Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) and while the two were not exactly enthusiastic about working together, they eventually built a strong bond, and that’s where Ahsoka’s nickname ‘Snips’ was born.
As one of the more agile Jedi, she is known for her acrobatic prowess, and is often seen doing back and front flips, as well as somersaults to dodge enemy attacks. She also possesses a unique ability to purify Kyber crystals, as well as telekinetic abilities. Sadly, her relationship with the Jedi Council and Anakin fell apart when the Jedi Temple was bombed and Ahsoka was accused of the crime. Although she was later found to be innocent and was offered reinstatement as Jedi, Ahsoka felt deeply betrayed by the Jedi Order’s lack of faith in her and declined. This explains why her lightsabers glow white, not blue or green.
2) Ahsoka and the Siege of Mandalore
After leaving the Jedi Order, Ahsoka relocated to the lower levels of Coruscant and went into hiding as Ashla. She was eventually called back to aid in the retaking of Mandalore from Darth Maul (Sam Witwer), where she was briefly reunited with her master, and led a combined force of clone troopers alongside Captain Rex (Dee Bradley Baker) and the Mandalorian Night Owls, including Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff). Ahsoka was successful in defeating Darth Maul but her life took another dramatic turn when Order 66 was executed. Ahsoka faked her death, buried her lightsabers and embarked on a new path.
The rising Empire later drew her back into the fight where she helped the Rebel Alliance, setting her on a path to meet the Rebels crew, including Kanan Jarrus (Freddie Prinze Jr.) and his apprentice, Ezra Bridger (voiced by Taylor Gray).
3) Ahsoka and Ezra Bridger
Ahsoka played a significant role in training Ezra in the ways of the Force. She was still battling the Empire at the time and eventually reunited with Captain Rex and his surviving clones. When Ezra received a message from Yoda, Ahsoka travelled to the Sith planet Malachor V with him and found not only an ancient Sith superweapon but Darth Maul too.
At Malachor V, Ahsoka learnt that Anakin did not die in the order of Order 66 and had turned into Darth Vader. The former master and padawan had a fierce battle which left the Sith Lord wounded. Meanwhile, Ezra discovered a Jedi temple hidden beneath his home world and went on to save it. Although he was successful in saving his home world, it came at a cost as he used the Force to transport himself to an unknown point in the galaxy, leaving Ahsoka on a desperate search to find him.
4) Ahsoka in The Mandalorian
Ahsoka made her first live-action debut in The Mandalorian, played by actress Rosario Dawson. Dawson will be reprising the character in the upcoming Ahsoka Disney+ series too. In The Mandalorian, Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) asked her to train the young Grogu. Ahsoka refused as she was no longer a Jedi, but helped Djarin free the planet Corvus from its Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth. She finally made her way to the newly built Jedi Temple, where she reunited with Djarin, Grogu and Luke Skywalker, who later took on the role to train Grogu. Her last appearance in The Mandalorian directly leads into Ahsoka.
5) The Disney+ Series
Set during the same time as The Mandalorian season three, the series reunites Ahsoka with her student, Mandalorian warrior Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Borzizzo). Ah, this is the part in the trailer that has confused fans somewhat, as in Star Wars: Rebels, Sabine wasn’t explicitly shown to be Force-sensitive, though it showed that Ezra trained her in lightsaber combat after she temporarily wielded the Darksaber. Also, the Rebels series ended with Sabine holding on to Ezra’s lightsaber.
Having Ahsoka as her master is development in the live-action series, and it remains to be seen if the details of the years between the end of Rebels and the start of the series will be shown on screen.
With rumblings of General Admiral Thrawn’s (Lars Mikkelsen) resurfacing, Ahsoka and Sabine must work together to locate Ezra Bridger (played by Eman Esfadi in live-action) once again, all while being hunted by Inquisitors and a pair of Dark Force users. Given that the trailer implies that the two previously split, Ahsoka will also see the master and student work through their issues.
Thrawn and Sabine aren’t the only Rebels character making their live-action debut in Ahsoka, as they will be joined by pilot Hera Syndulla, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead and droid Chopper a.k.a C1-10P. Rounding out the cast of Ahsoka are the late Ray Stevenson, Ivanna Sakhno, Diane Lee Inosanto, David Tennant, and Hayden Christensen who will reprise his role as Darth Vader.
Star Wars: Ahsoka, written by Dave Filoni, who serves as executive producer alongside Jon Favreau, Kathleen Kennedy, Colin Wilson, and Carrie Beck, premieres on Disney+ on 23 August.
Don’t judge a book by its cover, for behind all this makeup, is a geek just like you. To simply put it, superheroes, Star Wars, Harry Potter and all things gore and creepy makes this girly girl swoon.
Gerald
Natalie
