Summary
- Anakin Skywalker's confrontation with Ahsoka Tano serves as her final lesson from him.
- Ahsoka's upcoming mission in the new galaxy can serve as her trial.
- Ahsoka could remain in the other galaxy, living in peace and teaching the ways of the Jedi.
The following article contains major spoilers for Ahsoka Season 1, Episode 5, “Part Five: Shadow Warrior,” now streaming on Disney+.
Even before Ahsoka, the titular character has had a long journey. She was once part of the now-fallen Jedi Order during the Clone Wars. But she walked away from her training under Anakin Skywalker. The former Padawan later engaged in battle against her former master, now Darth Vader, and went into hiding following that fateful encounter. The fifth episode of Ahsoka, “Part Five: Shadow Warrior,” however, has reunited her with her late one-time teacher -- in a sense, anyway.
Ahsoka and Anakin meet again in the extradimensional World Between Worlds. The pair are played by Rosario Dawson and Hayden Christensen, respectively. Physically, Ahsoka lays injured following her battle with former Jedi Baylon Skoll. With a life-saving lesson in mind, Anakin goads her into fighting him once more. But this is no mere rematch as Anakin has a parting revelation for his former student. The pivotal moment serves as his final lesson to her. With that lesson, she now stands to become a Jedi once again. Should she choose that path, Ahsoka Tano could become a Jedi unlike any the galaxy has ever seen.
Anakin Skywalker Just Completed Ahsoka's Jedi Training
Ahsoka’s break with the Jedi began while she was still a Padawan. Fellow Padawan Barriss Offee had carried out a terrorist attack and framed Ahsoka for the crime. To worsen matters, the Jedi Order disavowed Ahsoka after her arrest. Disillusioned, Ahsoka left the Jedi Order entirely after being cleared and ignored Anakin’s pleas for her to stay. Her training under him was thus left unfinished, and the storyline closed out Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 5.
“Part Five: Shadow Warrior” reveals Ahsoka’s concerns about her potential legacy and doesn’t ever want to teach the ways of war, as she had been. Ahsoka knows her teachings come from the Jedi who later became Darth Vader. She comes to terms with her potential future, though, while battling her former master. On the surface, she’s choosing to live in the wake of her fight with Skoll. But in her mind, she now understands that life can include the ways of peace, not war.
Anakin’s final lesson to Ahsoka is that she can choose her destiny, and not be bound by her past. His fate is not intertwined with hers. With that, Anakin has finally completed his Padawan’s training, just as he intended to do years ago. Ahsoka is now once again free to pursue the path of a Jedi. Under the rules of the Jedi Order, Ahsoka is now ready undergo the trials to finally become one. That is, should she choose to.
Ahsoka’s Jedi Trials Will Take Place in a Galaxy Far, Far Away
Whatever Ahsoka’s trials entail, they could take place in a very unfamiliar locale. At the end of “Shadow Warrior,” Ahsoka heads off to a distant galaxy in search of the missing Sabine Wren. Sabine is already on her way to the new galaxy alongside Skoll, his apprentice Shin Hati, and Nightsister Morgan Elsbeth. Sabine hopes to find her lost ally and Rebel leader Ezra Bridger. The trio in turn are searching for the likewise missing Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Ahsoka and Sabine will find plenty of conflict in this unknown region. They will surely face Skoll, Hati and Elsbeth again -- and likely Thrawn as well. The inevitable reunion with Ezra undoubtedly won’t go without a battle -- all that would be a challenge for any pending Jedi fresh off their training. But this will all happen in a galaxy no Jedi has seen before. Whatever any would-be Jedi’s trials might be, Ahsoka’s are definitely worthy of testing her mettle.
Of course, the mandate of an official set of trials is irrelevant in the post-Jedi age. The Order had fallen decades ago. There’s no Council to formally require any kind of test or to award the title of Jedi Knight. Ahsoka’s upcoming battles are only trials in a self-imposed, ceremonial sense, and that's only if Ahsoka desires to become a Jedi. If she does, she could view undergoing the trials as honoring a Jedi tradition, and in turn become the first Jedi Knight in the history of an unexplored galaxy.
The Future of Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars
The introduction of this new galaxy is a first for Star Wars canon. All stories in continuity have taken place within the same familiar galaxy far, far away. Ahsoka’s pending exploration of the Unknown Regions presents a whole new canvas for the franchise’s characters. Her journey there offers especially unique opportunities for her as a potential Jedi Knight. Ahsoka fought in the Clone Wars as a teen and has only known war in her galaxy. She therefore isolated herself during the Galactic Civil War. These new territories, however, hold the promise of what she’s long craved: peace.
There’s no presumption that Ahsoka would ever leave peace to return to her home galaxy. Living a life in peace would align with her life as a Jedi and could teach the ways of the Jedi to peaceful inhabitants of countless worlds. Her teachings could prevent or stymie emerging conflicts within the new galaxy. She could also introduce the Force -- a literal alien concept to its residents -- and open the minds of its denizens to its power and potential. She could thus fulfill the legacy she always hoped to have, not the one she feared.
Ahsoka won’t be alone in this galaxy, either. Sabine is there too, of course and Ezra could also elect to stay. Star Wars: The Clone Wars introduced Ahsoka prior to the events of the original trilogy. Star Wars: Rebels did the same with Sabine and Ezra, and their introductions naturally raised questions about their eventual fates. Establishing roles for Ahsoka, Sabine and Ezra in the new galaxy would address some of those questions. It would also provide an explanation for their absences during the later eras, like the First Order saga while also opening a wealth of story potential for the characters.
Ahsoka Tano’s story began as a Padawan and its natural conclusion would grant her the title of Jedi Knight. But in a new galaxy, Ahsoka wouldn’t be just any Jedi -- she would be its first. Founding a new Jedi Order in such a place would establish her as one of the most important in history.
New episodes of Ahsoka are available to stream every Tuesday on Disney+.