Trust in the Force. Disney has many stellar projects lined up for the rest of 2023. Ahsoka comes first promising an action-packed season in preparation for a galactic crossover. However, many Star Wars fans may be unfamiliar with the deep history of Ahsoka Tano. Therefore this guide should help you catch up before starting the new show on Disney+.
Early Life
Ahsoka Tano is a Togrutan(alien species) female. She was born on the planet Shili. However, Jedi Master Plo Koon discovered her shortly after a hunting incident with her family. As a result, she would abandon her old life for a new one at the Jedi Temple in Coruscant.
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Ahsoka entered her Padawan years at the start of the Clone Wars. The Jedi Council assigned Anakin Skywalker to be her master. The galactic war between the Republic and the Separatists forced many Padawans to accelerate their learning. Consequently, Ahsoka would be knee-deep in military tactics and clone troopers throughout this time. Her bond with Anakin Skywalker would grow as the pair went on many adventures during the war.
The Mortis Arc
The events on the planet Mortis prove to be one of the most influential moments in Ahsoka’s life. Ahsoka, Anakin, and Obi-Wan had been tasked to investigate an ancient distress system. However, things took a turn as their ship was transported to an ethereal plane of the Force. Mortis is undetectable on any star chart and communications failed to work properly.
As a result, the trio found themselves stranded. The Jedi quickly encountered powerful beings in the Force known as The Father, the Son, and the Daughter. They ruled Mortis and embodied aspects of the Force. The Daughter represented the Light, while the Son represented the Dark. Meanwhile, the Father maintained the balance.
Anakin and Ahsoka both struggled with doubt and strange visions during their stay. Anakin was being urged to replace the Father and consider his role as the Chosen One. On the other hand, Ahsoka became plagued with doubt about her Master. Both sides of the struggle pointed to the strong attachment between the pair and how it would be their ruin.
A Shared Life
Evil schemes soon came to fruition. The Son kidnapped Ahsoka and infected her with the Dark Side of the Force to do his bidding. Subsequently, the Son tried to manipulate Anakin using Ahsoka as leverage. He refused and a battle ensued between them and the Daughter helping Anakin. Obi-Wan joined the fray after retrieving the Dagger of Mortis(a weapon capable of killing the godlike Force users).
However, Ahsoka stole the Dagger and gifted it to the Son. He then killed Ahsoka and attempted to use the Dagger against the Father. Unfortunately, the Daughter intercepted the killing blow, mortally wounding herself. Horrified, the Son fled the scene.
Anakin transferred the remaining life essence of the Daughter, under her instruction, to Ahsoka to bring the Padawan back to life. This would forever tie her fate to the Daughter. Then, Anakin tracked down and killed the Son as Ahsoka prepared the ship for the trio’s departure. They escaped safely, leaving the Father to end his own life.
Betrayed by the Jedi
The Clone Wars neared its end by the time Ahsoka Tano faced her greatest trial. Coruscant’s Jedi Temple suffered a terrible bombing. This was orchestrated in secret by Bariss Offee, a Padawan disillusioned by the Jedi and Ahsoka’s best friend.
Meanwhile, Ahsoka and Anakin returned to Coruscant to investigate the incident. However, Ahsoka was framed by Bariss shortly after the investigation began. The Jedi Council incarcerated the Padawan until the truth revealed itself. Ahsoka escaped her cell only to find further victims being planted to incriminate her name. She escaped the temple and sought refuge in the Planet’s underworld.
Ahsoka made an uneasy alliance with Asajj Ventress, the Sith Assassin, while looking to clear her name. Ahsoka reached out to Bariss, still in the dark to her true intentions. Bariss laid a trap causing Ahsoka to be captured by the Republic.
A military trial was held, orchestrated by Tarkin after the Jedi Order expelled Ahsoka. However, Ahsoka’s fortune changed when Anakin Skywalker brought the true culprit to the trial, Bariss Offee. She confessed and the Republic found Ahsoka innocent. The Jedi Council pardoned the Padawan soon after. Subsequently, they attempted to promote her to Jedi Knight due to the ordeal.
However, the damage had been done. Ahsoka lost her faith in the Jedi who refused to stand by her when she needed them the most. Anakin pleaded with her to stay, but the Padawan needed a new path to walk. Thus, Ahsoka Tano left the Jedi Order.
The Siege of Mandalore
Their paths would not stray for long. Ahsoka had spent some time with Rafa and Trace Martez on Level 1313. However, she was tracked down by Lady Bo-Katan Kryze. Bo-Katan sought an alliance in the battle for Mandalore. The planet was under duress by Darth Maul.
Ahsoka and the allied Mandalorians located Maul but needed reinforcements. As a result, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi received their transmission requesting aid. A new division of clone troopers led by Commander Rex joined the siege after some deliberation.
Eventually, the siege culminated in a showdown between Ahsoka and Maul. A heated battle ensued which led to the victory of the former. However, Darth Maul gave cryptic ravings foreshadowing things to come with Order 66.
Fall of the Jedi
Ahsoka saluting Rex
Ahsoka accompanied Rex’s battalion and the newly incarcerated Darth Maul aboard the Tribunal Star Destroyer. She was lost in thought when the Force reached out to warn her of the events unfolding on Coruscant. Yet, she remained unclear of the true danger she faced.
Commander Rex and all of the clone troopers of the Tribunal turned against Ahsoka Tano in accordance with Order 66. Ahsoka escaped the assault and decide to free Maul as a diversion to the clone troopers. Subsequently, Ahsoka activated droids within a storage closet to aid in her chance of survival.
The group captured and transported Rex to the medical bay after Ahsoka discovered a data log from Fives. A scan revealed the inhibitor chip within Rex’s brain and the droids removed it. Now free, Rex joined Ahsoka in fending off clone troopers.
The pair, along with helpful droids, made plans to escape with a shuttle inside the hangar bay. However, the trooper battalion led by Jess awaited them. Rex and Ahsoka fought for their lives. Meanwhile, Maul caught up to the group and ensued further chaos after he destroyed the Tribunal’s hyperdrive.
This caused the Star Destroyer to abruptly exit hyperspace. The Tribunal began to crash as the ship was caught by the gravitational forces of a nearby moon. Maul made his escape, leaving Rex and Ahsoka with fleeting chances.
The pair finally made their getaway using a Y-Wing as the ship crashed upon the moon’s surface. None of the clone troopers left on board survived. Ahsoka and Rex made graves for each clone with the former leaving her own lightsabers at an unmarked grave as a final farewell to the life she had known.
Life on the Run
Ahsoka Tano took on a new alias as Jedi and their allies became criminals under Palpatine’s new empire. Ahsoka became Ashla during her travels. She took up odd jobs as a mechanic for a time, hiding in the Outer Rim from Imperial forces.
She did not stay incognito for long as her sense of morality and tendency to help others caused the ex-Jedi to act. Ahsoka helped local citizens against the tyranny of the Empire, most notably on Raada. Senator Bail Organa caught wind of her acts. Consequently, he sent agents to recruit her to his rebellion against the Emperor.
Ahsoka worked with Bail to liberate the people of Raada. She came face to face with an inquisitor, the Sixth Brother, who had been in charge of the imperial occupancy. The pair battled. Ahsoka managed to detonate the inquisitor’s lightsaber through the Force and recovered his red kyber crystals. She healed them through the Force, turning them from red to white, and set to construct her own weapons. Thus, Ahsoka was once again armed with lightsabers of her own.
Age of Rebellion
Ahsoka Tano cemented herself as an agent of the Rebellion shortly after Raada. She proved invaluable to Bail and Mon Mothma. The pair even tasked Ahsoka with heading the spy network and intelligence communications between rebel groups as secret agent “Fulcrum.”
Here, she met the Ghost crew. Hera Syndulla, the pilot of the Ghost, exclusively handled communications with Fulcrum at first. However, the Ghost crew’s infamy in the Empire resulted in the capture of Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus.
Hera and the remaining crew launched a rescue attempt despite Fulcrum’s protests. They were quickly overwhelmed. The crew was rescued by the rebel fleet, Phoenix Cell, led by Fulcrum. Then, the identity of Fulrcum as Ahsoka Tano was revealed to the newly rescued crew.
Master and Apprentice
Ahsoka frequently joined the Ghost crew on missions soon after. Additionally, Ezra Bridger learned valuable lessons of the Force and lightsaber usage under her tutelage. Ahsoka would often reminisce about her time with the Order, albeit with a tinge of melancholy.
However, the crew’s action soon caused their paths to cross Darth Vader’s. Ahsoka’s journey led her and the crew to Malachor, an ancient Sith Planet. There, the Togrutan reunited with her old master once again. Ahsoka battled Darth Vader, giving Ezra and the crew the chance to escape. She held her own against the Sith Lord. On the other hand, time was running out as the temple collapsed around them.
Darth Vader began to gain ground, pushing the assault. He prepared to deal a fatal blow when his former Padawan vanished abruptly through a portal. A future Ezra Bridger had whisked her way to the World Between Worlds, saving her life. The World Between Worlds is a space that exists outside of time. The pair exited the space after Ahsoka dissuaded Ezra from attempting the same act with the late Kanan Jarrus.
Bringing Ezra Home
Ezra Bridger became a hero of the rebellion after sacrificing himself during the liberation of Lothal. He thwarted Grand Admiral Thrawn by transporting the pair to Unknown Space. However, he remains missing years later. Sabine Wren believes the young Jedi still lives.
Ahsoka rejoined Sabine for a time to search for him. The pair separated at some point. Yet, the former still continued her search. Now, she is hell-bent on bringing Ezra home at the time of The Mandalorian.
Fun Facts
Snips
Ahsoka and Anakin quickly became attached from the very beginning. They worked well together and fed off one another’s energy. Ahsoka’s nickname “Snips” comes from the witty and snippy comebacks she would give to her master.
Fighting Style
Ahsoka was an adept user of Jar’Kai. This style excelled by the two lightsabers wielded by the user. Subsequently, she used her acrobatic and nimble tactics to control the battlefield. Eventually, her skills would grow considerably leading her to combat multiple inquisitors with ease.
Her gifts in the Force further amplified this. Ahsoka had a natural talent for Force intuition and skill to manipulate objects, enemy lightsabers, and more. Her talents may also benefit from her connection to the Sister.
Morai
Morai is a Convor owl that befriended Ahsoka. This creature can often be seen flying overhead or nearby; Morai behaves as a familiar to Ahsoka. However, the owl also serves as a symbolic reminder of Ahsoka and the Sister’s intertwined fates.
Unfinished Business
The events surrounding Ahsoka’s trail proved instrumental in the path she chose to walk. However, it is unclear what happened to Bariss Offee after Order 66. She was a prisoner of the Republic, yet fans still wonder if the two will ever cross paths again.
Well-Rounded
Ahsoka Tano is an accomplished warrior, adept at politics, military tactics, survival, engineering, and more. This can be accredited to the Clone Wars and the people she met along the way. Anakin Skywalker serves as her Jedi Master. However, Ahsoka worked closely with other famous Jedi such as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Plo Koon, Yoda, and Aayla Secura to name a few.
Additionally, she was friends with Padmé Amidala and accompanied her several times for political business. The Clone Wars were a mess of politics and evil machinations. Ahsoka was there to witness it all firsthand.
The Journey Continues
That concludes this guide providing key events and info about everyone’s favorite Togruta. Ahsoka(Disney+) picks up where events left off in the last season of Star Wars: Rebels. Where Dave Filoni and Lucasfilm take the character should prove to be an exciting and emotionally filled journey.
