Ahsoka's fifth episode brought one of the most complicated Star Wars concepts to life: the World Between Worlds. There, Ahsoka found herself face to face with her former master like she has time and time again – but this time, he's there the way she remembers him, as Anakin Skywalker rather than as Darth Vader. He's a physical manifestation of her past failures, and she must learn from him to move forward and become the hero everyone needs her to be right now.

The two of them clash, and though, for a moment, it looks like Anakin is going to best his former apprentice, she ultimately prevails over him. She leaves this fight stronger than before and has a better sense of her identity. This shift will propel her arc forward for the rest of the series – and she's not the only character in the Star Wars galaxy to experience something like this.

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Anakin and Ahsoka's Confrontation Isn't the Only Master-Padawan Fight in a Transitional Space

The fight in the World Between Worlds is one of the most interesting in Star Wars history. Anakin and Ahsoka are equally matched and know each other well enough to anticipate what the other will do. However, Anakin's still an unpredictable element, especially now that the darkness within him is even more prevalent than it was when the two of them knew each other. He promises that he has a lesson to teach her, which ultimately comes in the form of making her confront everything she's been trying to repress.

However, Anakin and Ahsoka aren't the first former Master and Padawan with a tragic history to meet in a similar place. In 2019's Jedi: Fallen Order, once he reaches the Tomb of Kujet on Dathomir for the first time, Cal Kestis must battle the shade of his former master, Jaro Tapal, who perished during Order 66. He embodies everything Cal has been running from for the past few years – and plays a similar part in Cal's life that Anakin does in Ahsoka's.

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Cal and Ahsoka are Forced to Face Their Darker Pasts

In the World Between Worlds, Ahsoka comes face to face with what she believes are two of her biggest failures, not only as a soldier, but as a person. The first is the Battle of Ryloth, depicted in Star Wars: The Clone Wars' first season. It was one of the first times Ahsoka really saw combat after becoming Anakin's apprentice, and clearly, she wasn't quite ready for it. Many of her men fell, and she believes their blood to be on her hands. It's a shortcoming she never recovered from. It's also, interestingly enough, the first time Cham Syndulla – Hera's father – appears, and it's possible that Ahsoka sees her failure there as a way that she let down her dear friend. The second is the Siege of Mandalore – the last mission audiences see her take on during the Clone Wars, and another where she was not able to save the people she was supposed to be there to protect. She teamed up with Bo-Katan Kryze against Darth Maul, who had seized control of the planet. However, she ultimately was not able to prevent the fall of Mandalore.

This could, once again, represent a way that she believes she failed her friends. Sabine, who left with Baylan Skoll in hopes that he could help her find Ezra, grew up on Mandalore, and lost her entire culture when the planet fell. Ahsoka may think that she has the ability to prevent that from happening, but she still cannot escape the constant fear that all of this is her fault. Something similar happens to Cal. When he reaches into the Tomb of Kujet, he's immediately transported back to Order 66 – one of the most traumatic moments of his entire life. He was twelve when it happened, and has carried the weight of it for his whole life. It's revealed that Cal was there when his master died and that he blames himself. After all, there are a thousand things he could've done differently. He could've been faster getting to the escape pods, thus allowing them to get away without the clones realizing where they were.

Most importantly, he could've avoided losing his lightsaber while he was being pursued, and, therefore, could've defended himself rather than waiting for Tapal to help him. These fears are all recognized when a shade of his former master appears in front of him in the tomb, attacking him and calling him weak. In the process, he loses the first battle and destroys his lightsaber, which was the last thing he had of Tapal's. However, when he returns after constructing a new saber on Ilum, he fights his master again, which gives him the strength to move on from his past rather than letting it define him forever.

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Anakin and Jaro Tapal Leave Their Padawans with Important Messages

Anakin and Jaro Tapal represent the most frightening aspects of their Padawans' lives – their pasts. However, they also have important lessons to share with their apprentices, who must internalize their words if they want to grow into the people the galaxy needs them to be. Anakin makes it clear from the beginning that he has one final thing to teach Ahsoka before she can leave the World Between Worlds. She's been stagnating since she left the Jedi Order, sleepwalking through life to avoid the risk of falling to the dark side, as she always struggled to regulate her emotions in much the same way Anakin did. She's started repressing her feelings rather than letting them give her strength like they used to. Anakin shows her that she needs to let go of her past and fear and be the leader she was born to be. She must live, truly live, rather than hide. Only then can she step into the light again.

Something similar occurs in Cal's final confrontation with Jaro Tapal. Though Tapal encourages him to fight, to channel his anger and despair into violence, Cal surrenders. The loss is a part of him, and it always will be. But if he continues to let the pain consume him, he'll never progress past it, and he'll forever be trapped as a frightened young boy who isn't sure where he belongs in the world. Instead, he promises to honor Tapal's sacrifice and teachings for the rest of his life but moves forward. This decision allows him to move deeper into the Tomb of Kujet and obtain the astrium that brought him to Dathomir in the first place. Ultimately, Cal and Ahsoka had to learn to let go of their past rather than being consumed by it, and that decision allowed them to become the heroes they were born to be.

Episodes of Ahsoka are released weekly on Tuesdays at 6 PM PST on Disney+.