Ahsoka is almost upon us. Since 2008, Ahsoka Tano has been a staple in Star Wars media, beginning with The Clone Wars films before making her way into the television of the same name. She then went to Star Wars Rebels before finally going to live-action in The Mandalorian, followed by The Book of Boba Fett. On August 23rd, she will be heading a series featuring references to her beloved yet fallen master Anakin Skywalker and his teachings. His teachings are the reason why the Togruta is who she is today.
Anakin Skywalker’s life changed drastically when 14-year-old Ahsoka upended his life during the Battle of Christophsis. During their first mission together, they clashed as they fought to return Jabba the Hutt’s son, Rotta, to the crimelord. The pair became quite close over the two and a half years as master and apprentice.
Anakin: Devastated
Ahsoka’s departure from the Jedi Order devastated Anakin, meaning he believes his teachings failed her. However, this action saved Tano’s life as soon after she left, Skywalker turned to the Dark Side, and the new Emperor Palpatine orchestrated Order 66, which he activated in the Clones to wipe out the leader.
Many Jedi were killed, but they were not entirely exterminated. A handful survived, including Ahsoka, despite her no longer identifying as a Jedi. However, Captain Rex, her friend and a clone, saw her as one and attempted to fight his programming. He succeeded slightly. But had to be knocked out so Tano could remove the inhibitor chip in his brain. This chip had been pre-programmed with Order 66.
Ahsoka Loses Her Honourary Big Brother
For almost twenty years, Ahsoka thought Anakin had died during the Jedi Purge. She had no way of knowing he was involved in the slaughter. Discovering her beloved master, friend and honourary big brother had become Darth Vader, Tano was left devastated, though she still had Anakin’s teachings. This revelation also left her wanting answers, so she set out to discover the truth and what she found almost destroyed her.
Ahsoka ultimately blamed herself for Anakin’s fall, as she had left him when he had needed her the most. She knew many of his secrets, including his marriage to Padmé Amidala. While he was unaware of how much she had learned, she was loyal enough not to publicise the information.
Dave Filoni, the man behind Ahsoka’s creation, said that Darth Vader wanted no memory of Ahsoka as he deemed her one of Anakin’s biggest failures. Tano wasn’t a failure by any stretch of the imagination. She was pushed into a situation where she had no control whatsoever.
Understood Parallels
Anakin understood this too well. He had been raised as a slave on Tatooine through no fault of his own. With Ahsoka, she was framed for a crime she would’ve never committed, and the Jedi Order, including Obi-Wan, turned their backs on her. Skywalker was the only Jedi who stood by her.
With Kenobi, he was in a difficult position as he was Anakin’s former master and best friend and Ahsoka’s grandmaster, who knew her well. He was the only one on the Jedi Council who didn’t think she was a terrorist, but he couldn’t say it aloud. It also hurt his relationship with Anakin, given how Skywalker felt about the situation. However, he said nothing as he greatly valued his best friend.
Unorthodox
Going into the Ahsoka series, we’ll see the Togruta, who has overcome so much, define why she is a warrior, Jedi, and rebel. Ahsoka is not your typical former Jedi, and Anakin is to thank for that when he was her teacher. His methods were often frowned upon because of how unorthodox they were. His teachings were the same.
Ahsoka was inspired by how her master ran their clone battalion, the 501st, during the Clone Wars. He was tough, but he treated his troops and her as equals. That is why he had Captain Rex lead a special squadron – the 332nd company – of clones that were loyal to her. This allowed Commander Appo to take his place as the clone leader of the 501st. He would eventually lead the assault on the Jedi Temple.
While Anakin’s methods were deemed unorthodox by many elder Jedi, his clones and Ahsoka greatly respected him. Even Obi-Wan didn’t always agree with his former apprentice’s rules. Though, he respected him for thinking outside the box. Other Jedi would frown upon it.
Teaching The Other And Attachment
The one thing Ahsoka took away from Anakin’s teachings is that there is no one way to do something. Other Padawans were taught the same thing, depending on who their masters were. However, with Tano and Skywalker, they taught each other.
Not to mention, many masters didn’t attach themselves to their padawans in case they were killed. Attachment was a big no-no for the Jedi as they believed it was a path to the dark side. This was also why Anakin was frustrated about not being able to publicly refer to Padmé as his wife. This was something that annoyed him. Only a handful of people within his and Senator Amidala’s social circles knew.
Ahsoka was aware, but Anakin didn’t know about it until she went to leave the Jedi Order, where she subtly hinted at it. Padmé, however, knew for a while as Tano had been on a mission with the couple as a third wheel sent by Obi-Wan. She promised she wouldn’t say anything because she was close to the pair.
“Just Like I Walked Away From Sabine.”
In the Ahsoka series, Ahsoka will have abandoned her teaching of Sabine Wren, a Mandalorian once a lightsaber trainee, to Kanan Jarrus, a former Jedi killed during Star Wars Rebels. Jarrus, real name Caleb Dume, was also teaching Ezra Bridger the ways of the Force.
During the Clone Wars, Anakin suggested Ahsoka’s lightsaber form, Form V, as he saw her incredible potential. This is due to her skills in acrobatics. Ahsoka excelled at it, and it became her primary form of combat. Skywalker was also a practitioner of Form V but to a lesser degree.
Years later, the two were evenly matched when Ahsoka and Anakin (now Darth Vader) came face to face again on Malachor. Skywalker had been the one to train his former apprentice. It had never been expected for the two to meet again.
Not to mention, Anakin had been referenced by Ahsoka to Kanan and Ezra when she was struggling to find Rex. She explained that the head of the tactical droid she had given them had tracked her and Skywalker when they “didn’t want to be found.”
Barely Surviving
Given her experiences, Ahsoka thought she could handle picking up on Sabine’s training. However, the trailer (as seen in our trailer breakdown linked above) teases that she walked away from Sabine too.
During Rebels, Ahsoka and Sabine didn’t share much screen time, if any. The only scene that comes to mind is the epilogue sequence. This is where Wren narrates what became of the remaining Ghost crew members. Ahsoka shows up as Sabine looks at the mural she painted. Finally, we don’t even recall them interacting beyond this. Ahsoka had a recurring role in Season 2 and a small part in Season 4. There might be an explanation for this during the Ahsoka show.
