A Crash Course on Ahsoka Tano: The Rebels Era

Note: This is Part II of this crash course. Read Part I here. Let’s jump back in.

Now we know about Ahsoka as a padawan and her tumultuous relationship with Anakin Skywalker. So what happened next?

If you’re totally ready to come to the nerdy side, you should probably stop reading this now and watch the Clone Wars film, the Clone Wars series, and Star Wars: Rebels series (in that order). I’m about to spoil A LOT. You can come back later if you need a refresher.

There’s a multi-year gap between the end of The Clone Wars and when we next see Ahsoka in Rebels. This gap has been filled by E.K. Johnston in the novel Ahsoka. That’s an article on its own, so we won’t be getting into it here. But it is important to know that the novel is considered Star Wars canon rather than legend.

The Star Wars: Rebels series focuses on a small group of rebels known as The Ghost crew. The crew consists of a force-sensitive humanoid named Ezra Bridger, his Jedi master Kanan Jarrus who survived Order 66, the Twi’lek pilot of the Ghost named Hera, a Mandalorian named Sabine, a Lesat named Zeb, and Chopper the astromech.

The crew is a cell of the larger rebellion and throughout the series, we see many familiar faces as it bridges the gap between Episode III and Episode IV.

In Season 1, the crew is assisted by an anonymous informant called “Fulcrum.” In the final episode of the season, Fulcrum is revealed to be—you guessed it—Ahsoka Tano.

Season 2 opens with Darth Vader launching an attack on the planet Lothal to find rebels. During a starship battle, Ahsoka and Darth Vader sense each other through The Force. Realizing that a part of Anakin survived Order 66, Ahsoka’s mind is momentarily overwhelmed. After the battle, Ahsoka doesn’t reveal her knowledge of Darth Vader’s identity; Darth Vader tells Palpatine that Ahsoka is alive.

Ahsoka works with the crew on multiple missions, one of the most notable being in Season 2, Episode 10 where they rescue Force-sensitive babies from The Empire who would either kill them or exploit their powers for evil.

In Episode 19 of Season 2, Ahsoka travels with Kanan and Ezra to the Jedi Temple on Lothal. While in the Temple, the three have different visions. Ahsoka is confronted by the ghost of Anakin who asks her why she abandoned him when he needed her. Anakin’s ghost transforms into the form of Darth Vader. This scene manifests the guilt that Ahsoka feels in leaving before the fall of the Jedi while acting as her affirmation that Anakin has indeed become Darth Vader.

Ahsoka finally meets Vader face-to-face a few episodes later in the Season 2 finale. Ahsoka stops Vader from killing Ezra, and Vader promises Ahsoka mercy if she joins The Dark Side. Ahsoka refuses and claims that her old master would never have been as vile as Vader.

Vader: Anakin Skywalker was weak. I destroyed him.

Ahsoka: Then I will avenge his death.

Vader: Revenge is not the Jedi way.

Ahsoka: I am no Jedi.

*Fans scream as epic lightsaber battle begins. *

The former master-and-padawan duke it out until eventually Ahsoka destroys the right half of Vader’s mask. She falters as the voice of her master calls her name as he looks at her with his own eye. Unable to separate her master from the Sith Lord, Ahsoka vows not to leave him and the two continue battling as Kanan and Ezra escape.

The episode ends with Vader leaving with no trace of Ahsoka, and the rebels mourn her apparent death. Ahsoka is mentioned at multiple points throughout the next seasons, but she is assumed dead. But we’ve all seen the Mandalorian, so we know she’s not dead.

In Season 4, Episode 13 we finally discover how Ahsoka managed to survive. Ezra enters a portal that contains a labyrinth of doorways between life and death. He looks through one of the doorways and sees Ahsoka in her battle with Vader. Just before she is killed, he reaches through the doorway and pulls her out.

Ahsoka and Ezra wander through limbo and Ahsoka keeps Ezra from interfering any more with fate. (I’m not gonna spoil EVERYTHING.) Ahsoka and Ezra go their separate ways to prevent Emperor Palpatine from taking advantage of the powerful void, and it’s understood that Ahsoka returns to the planet where she was fighting Vader after he left.

The Rebels series ends with Ezra and Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn engaged in battle on Thrawn’s ship. Ezra stays on the ship with Thrawn as the ship jumps to hyperspace. The final moments of the series are narrated by Sabine five years later, where it’s revealed that Sabine and Ahsoka will team up to find Ezra.

And that brings us back to The Mandalorian Season 2, Episode 5. Whew.

When Ahsoka tells Din that she knows firsthand how anger can affect someone’s ability to use The Force, she’s directly referencing the fall of her old master. The most likely explanation as to why she doesn’t train Grogu is because she never officially advanced past her padawan rank when she left the Jedi Order.

Plus, she has work to do. In her battle with the Magistrate, Ahsoka asks where to find Grand Admiral Thrawn. Although we don’t see Sabine, it’s safe to guess that the reason she’s trying to find Thrawn is because she’s still on the mission to find Ezra.

Shortly after Ahsoka’s live action premiere on The Mandalorian, Lucasfilm announced that she would be getting her own spin-off show called Ahsoka. Ahsoka’s series will run along the same timeline as the Mandalorian and will (hopefully) pick up where we last saw Ahsoka and bring the Rebels characters into live action as well.

I think that just about covers it for now! Please leave questions or suggestions in the comments below for what you’d like to learn next in Star Wars School!