From the moment Disney announced the Ahsoka series, fans of Star Wars: Rebels hoped the two shows would connect in a very direct way. Rebels was the first Star Wars series released after Disney took ownership, even before The Force Awakens debuted. The series finale left two big question marks over fans' heads about the fate of an important villain and an important hero. Ahsoka made Rebels fans wait to see Sabine Wren find Ezra Bridger, but the wait was worth it.

Star Wars fans are a finicky bunch, and when Rebels was announced, many in the fandom were more upset about the loss of The Clone Wars. The show, which aired on Cartoon Network, was well into production on its sixth season when the House of Mouse became the steward of the galaxy far, far away. However, with just four total seasons, Rebels was the true masterpiece by Dave Filoni, who worked closely with George Lucas on the canceled series. The show proved that even without his own filmmaking version of a Jedi Master guiding him, Filoni could deliver heartfelt stories about lovable characters that deepened and enriched the larger universe. Along with the new characters, led by "Bokken" Jedi padawan Ezra Bridger, Filoni also introduced the most beloved villain in the old Star Wars Expanded Universe. The series ended with both Ezra and Grand Admiral Thrawn disappearing to parts unknown while the rest of the Rebels saved the galaxy from the evil Galactic Empire.

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What Happened to Ezra Bridger?

Star Wars fans who skip animation don't need to see Rebels to enjoy Ahsoka, but it definitely helps. Any viewer willing to fill in the blank spots with context clues understands that Ezra Bridger was vital to the liberation of the planet Lothal and important to Sabine, as well as General Hera Syndulla. Yet, they don't dive into the details of how or why he disappeared for nearly a decade. It all happened in the Star Wars: Rebels series finale, where Ezra made the kind of Jedi sacrifice that his mentor, Kanan Jarrus, had been training him for.

The Rebels fighting to liberate Lothal were overwhelmed and outmatched by the strategic military prowess of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Stationed on his star destroyer, called the Chimera, he oversaw the battle to defeat not just the crew of the Ghost but the unified rebel forces on the surface of Lothal, led by Clancy Brown's Governor Azadi. In an earlier episode, Ezra bonded with the hyperspace-traveling purrgil. He called on his friends, the space whales, to take him, Thrawn and the Chimera away from Lothal so the Rebels had a fighting chance.

In his final message to his crew, which, like all good Star Wars characters, became a found family, Ezra told them why he made his sacrifice. However, he didn't ask to be left to his fate without help. He asked Sabine Wren to come looking for him, though he didn't realize she'd have to find a way to travel to another galaxy. While the reunion finally answers the last question about Ezra's story, in Ahsoka, it is Sabine who is the focal point. Finding him was her quest, and as much as the series is about Anakin Skywalker's former Padawan, Ahsoka is equally about Sabine's search for her friend and her place in a universe not at war.

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The Reunion of Ezra Bridger and Sabine Wren in Ahsoka Is Understated

Ashoka Tano and Sabine Wren have conflicting desires in their efforts to prevent the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Ahsoka wants to stop the third war that threatens to consume the galaxy in her lifetime. While Sabine is eager to stop this war as well, she's more concerned about making good on Ezra's last request to her. When she comes face to blue face with Thrawn, she's not afraid. If anything, she regresses a bit to her younger self -- when she was more defiant in the face of certain death at the hands of the Empire. Her surprise when Thrawn agrees to "honor" the deal she made with fallen Jedi Baylon Skoll is genuine and shared by Rebels fans.

Her search takes her into the untamed wilderness of Peridea, the ancestral home of what Skoll called the Great Witch Kingdom of the Dathmiri. She meets a race of cute aliens called the Noti, who, in turn, take her to Ezra. Grown and bearded, Ezra Bridger reunites with Sabine in a quiet, understated moment. Instead of swooping in to save the day or some otherwise epic entrance, like the one reserved for Grand Admiral Thrawn, he just appears in the background. It's a scene as unexpected as it is intimate.

Ezra is going to have a lot of issues with how Sabine Wren got there to rescue him, especially since Thrawn still wants his head. Yet, instead of diving into the plot of it all, the show takes advantage of its slow, deliberate pacing. This moment is about two long-lost friends (or something more) reuniting after both were certain they'd never see each other again.

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Ahsoka Centered the Star Wars: Rebels Reunion in Its Character-Driven Story

Thus far, the journey Ahsoka Tano takes is meant to help her move past her hangups involving her old master, Anakin Skywalker. Yet, Ahsoka has spent an equal amount of its focus on Sabine Wren and how lost she felt after the war ended. She trained with Ahsoka until both of them quit on each other. Even once they reunited, Sabine was working to find Ezra while Ahsoka was working only to stop Thrawn. As a former Jedi, sacrificing Ezra Bridger to prevent the war is a fair trade.

However, despite her Jedi training, Sabine is a Mandalorian and a member of a crew. In either case, she doesn't leave people behind. Yet, Ahsoka also reveals how, after finding a new family and reuniting with her old one, she is alone. Her Mandalorian family died in the purge on Mandalore. The crew of the Ghost, other than Ezra, all broke apart and went their own separate ways. Ezra is the only person she truly has a chance to get back, and she is willing to risk it all for him.

The final two episodes of Ahsoka will deal with the fallout of this choice. Since Dave Filoni is directing a movie set in the New Republic era, it's safe to assume they won't stop Thrawn's return. However, the Force works in mysterious ways. Ahsoka and Sabine were never meant to stop Thrawn but rather reunite their family so, together, they can stop what he plans to do next.

Ahsoka releases new episodes Tuesdays at 9 PM Eastern on Disney+.