Ahsoka Tano Explained: A Closer Look At The Mandalorian’s Jedi
Ahsoka Tano made her live-action premiere, but who is this Jedi and what is her history?
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Ahsoka Tano just made her live-action debut on The Mandalorian. Star Wars fans have been eagerly anticipating the appearance of the Jedi and her episode has many fans very excited for her live-action future. However, this could be the first time many casual fans are being exposed to Ahsoka Tano. Exactly who is this Jedi and what is her connection to the rest of the larger Star Wars lore?
Ahsoka Tano was introduced in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. She was created to be the Jedi Padawan of Anakin Skywalker. She was assigned to him by Jedi Master Yoda in order to teach Anakin a greater sense of responsibility. Since the Clone Wars take place in between Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, this entire period is where Ahsoka and Anakin develop their relationship.
Anakin and Ahsoka Tano develop a fond relationship with each other. They go out of their way to protect each other during many battles throughout the Clone Wars. However, some moments showcase Anakin’s tendency to lean into the Dark Side of the Force and Ahsoka recognizes these problems. At one point, Ahsoka was framed for murder. Although she ended up getting her name cleared, she became frustrated and disenchanted with the Jedi Council and decides to leave the Jedi Order.
Eventually, Ahsoka Tano fakes her own death after Order 66 is enacted. Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader and goes searching for his former Padawan. Upon discovering her crashed ship and her lightsaber, he believes she is dead. She eventually becomes a rebel agent during the Empire’s rule. It’s then that she discovers that Anakin did not die at the end of the Clone Wars and has become Darth Vader. Ahsoka partially blames herself for allowing her Jedi Master to fall to the Dark Side of the Force. The two eventually duel but both survive.
It is unclear what Ahsoka Tano has been doing in the intervening years between Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope and the timeline of The Mandalorian. Clearly, she has retreated to the forest planet of Corvus. It seems like she is taking a similar hermitage as Yoda did when we first met him on Dagobah in Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back. However, she is also trying to search for Grand Admiral Thrawn and seems to believe that the Magistrate of Calodan on Corvus knows where to find him. What makes this interesting is that Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ahsoka Tano have not directly crossed paths in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars or Star Wars Rebels.
This leads to a very intriguing question: why does Ahsoka Tano want to find Grand Admiral Thrawn? At the end of Star Wars Rebels, Ahsoka was searching for Ezra Bridger, the protagonist of that animated series. It is unclear exactly where he might be, but his fate was entangled with that of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Could Ahsoka still be looking for Ezra? Or has Thrawn reappeared and she is seeking vengeance against him? Or does Thrawn possibly know where Ezra is? Regardless, it seems like Ahsoka needs Thrawn for an important reason for her story.
It is worth noting that Ahsoka Tano is wielding two white lightsabers when we see her in The Mandalorian. Ahsoka has actually had a few different lightsabers over the years, but the white lightsabers were crafted from the remains of an Inquisitor’s lightsaber. It seems like Ahsoka has been able to maintain these lightsabers over the years. Considering that we know there is a duel coming between The Mandalorian antagonist Moff Gideon and someone else, is it possible that Ahsoka will be matching her white lightsabers against the Darksaber?
Ahsoka Tano clearly has even more to do in the Star Wars universe, and with Rosario Dawson now embodying her in live-action, it is almost certain that we will be getting to see more of her in the future. Will it be on The Mandalorian or will she anchor her own movie or live-action series? And will we see her finally match her Jedi skills against the tactical brilliance of Grand Admiral Thrawn? No matter what, a lot more Star Wars fans are about to become fans of Ahsoka Tano.
Here’s a few of the best Ahsoka Tano shots from The Mandalorian’s “The Jedi” episode, introducing Ahsoka Tano…
