Ahsoka on Disney+ is not only a continuation of Star Wars: Rebels, but in many ways, a continuation of the legacy of the original and prequel trilogies. Creator Dave Filoni has given the character of Ahsoka a lot to do. And now, in a new era of Star Wars, he has tied the Ahsoka legacy to the core of the franchise, and to the Skywalker saga as a whole. Read on to find out just how Ahsoka’s legacy as the heir to the Skywalker makes much more sense than what we got in the sequel trilogy.
Please note that the following will contain spoilers for all episodes of Ahsoka currently streaming on Disney+.
The Ahsoka Legacy Goes Beyond Clones Wars And Rebels
Ahsoka Tano was a character created in the animated The Clone Wars series as a padawan to Anakin Skywalker. For 7 seasons of that show, audiences got to see the character grow and mature, directly learning from her master, the doomed Anakin Skywalker. Tano was largely absent during Anakin’s fall to the Dark Side, as she walked away from the Jedi order. So audiences never saw how she dealt with, Anakin becoming Darth Vader.
Star Wars: Rebels showed audiences how Ahsoka first learned that Anakin was Darth Vader, and the battle they had following that revelation. But neither The Clones Wars nor Rebels ever had the character deal with any of it. The fact that her master, the one who taught her in the Jedi way, eventually turned to the Sith. The Ahsoka series explores these conflicts within Ahsoka herself. Is the Ahsoka legacy one of death and destruction, as Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) tells Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) during their fight in episode in episode 3? It seems Ahsoka feels that way.
Completing Her Training Gives Ahsoka A New Legacy
So when Ahsoka goes into the World Between Worlds in episode 5, it’s a symbolic way of her finally being able to complete her training. Directly from her Master, Anakin Skywalker. It’s a largely metaphorical and symbolic, almost-dream-like sequence in which she gets to deal with and work through all these conflicting feelings within her. A stroll through her past also lets live-action audiences learn exactly the journey Ahsoka has had in Star Wars animated mediums before the Ahsoka series.
Trained by a complex Jedi master who was prone to give in to the dark side himself. Trained to be a warrior and a soldier during a war. Leaving the Jedi order due to a clash of ideals. Finding out her own master becomes the greatest evil the galaxy has ever known. All of that gets dealt with as she fights with her former master and lays it all out.
‘Everything that I am is within you’, says Anakin to Ahsoka. This can go both ways in implying one of the greatest Jedi ever, or the Sith responsible for destroying all Jedi. Which way Ahsoka goes is a choice she has to make, and so she does. And in choosing to ‘live’, and essentially choosing the path of good, separates her from what Anakin became. At the same time, it creates a new Star Wars legacy, making Ahsoka the true heir to the Skywalker line, more than anyone else.
No Shade To The Sequel Trilogy
Dave Filoni is known for redeeming or reclaiming aspects of the Star Wars franchise that were divisive or received poorly. Hayden Christensen’s choppy performance during the prequel trilogy was recontextualized and became amazing during his work in The Clones War series. Similarly, Ahsoka in her initial appearance wasn’t well liked. So Filoni brought back a young Ahsoka (Ariana Greenblatt) in live-action in the Ahsoka series, to reclaim that version of the character as well.
Similarly, with this new Ahsoka legacy, Filoni may be trying to reframe a narrative that ended the Star Wars movies, namely with The Rise Of Skywalker. The way the sequel trilogy ended, with Rey (Daisy Ridley) taking on the last name of Skywalker, was meant to homage and pay tribute to the contribution of the Skywalker family to Star Wars as a whole. But Rey only knew Luke (Mark Hamill) for a few days when training with him on Ach-Too. And she knew General Leia Organa-Solo (Carrie Fisher), the other Skywalker, for only slightly longer. She had more connection and fatherly vibes with Han Solo (Harrison Ford), whom she spent the most time with and had more adventures with. So her taking on the Skywalker name at the end, seemed more for fans, than it made any sense in the story.
Ahsoka Continuing The Skywalker Legacy Makes More Sense
However, Ahsoka being the true heir to the Skywalker saga is more fitting with this large universe that we’ve seen unfold for the past few decades, than Rey becoming a Skywalker by name only. Especially given any lack of real connection between her, and any Skywalker. As seen in the Ahsoka series, Ahsoka has been through it all with Anakin. Through thick and thin. So while Luke, who is still very much active in this timeline that Ahsoka takes place in, is the literal heir to Anakin’s legacy, Ahsoka’s legacy is more spiritual. Her training comes from the original Skywalker, Anakin himself, and she carries within her the goodness that Luke frees at the end of Return Of The Jedi.
Ahsoka’s actions, her feats of protecting the galaxy and her service to those around her, come directly as a result of the good that Anakin imbued within her. At the same time, she has to struggle with her legacy of being a soldier only, trying to walk on a path separate from the Jedi or Sith. A balance that Anakin failed to achieve. So in more than one way, the Ahsoka Legacy is a more fitting continuation to the Skywalker Saga, than anything else.
Ahsoka is now streaming on Disney+.
What do you think of where the Ahsoka series is taking the story and how it’s fitting into the larger Star Wars universe? Let me know in the comments below, or reach out to me on X (Twitter) at @theshahshahid anytime to talk about anything Star Wars-related.
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