Disney+’s latest series, Ahsoka, has elicited two different reactions from fans. Some are delighted to see a legacy character finally get the spotlight she deserves after 15 years of appearances across four shows, while others merely see her as an obscure cartoon character who briefly appeared in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.
So just who is Ahsoka Tano? Her story is rich and varied, spanning all the most important parts of the Star Wars timeline. Ahsoka has lived many lives, and anything from her past could come up in Ahsoka, so we’re going to briefly cover it all.
Ahsoka made her debut in The Clone Wars, a theatrical film that introduced the animated series of the same name. Her debut was polarizing, to say the least, with fans protesting that Anakin having a padawan besmirched canon, despite George Lucas’ personally working with Clone Wars and Ahsoka showrunner Dave Filoni to develop the character.
In-universe, Ahsoka was born about 36 years before the events of A New Hope, and renowned Jedi Plo Koon soon took her to Coruscant to begin her Jedi training. She was assigned to Anakin after she crafted her first lightsaber with the help of the ancient droid Professor Huyang, who will appear throughout Ahsoka.
During The Clone Wars, we saw Ahsoka navigate the events of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith alongside Anakin and other Jedi from the prequel era. She fought in several battles, and watched her master struggle with Force. That struggle was made literal in the Mortis arc, which revealed a mystical realm known as Mortis that contained physical representations of the Light and Dark sides of the Force.
Ahsoka was actually slain there, but was revived by Anakin and the Daughter, a manifestation of the Light side. From then on she was followed by Morai, an owl-like creature with ties to the Daughter. We’ll likely see Morai in Ahsoka.
Eventually, it looked like Ahsoka had found her place in the Jedi order, but her path was forever changed when she was framed for murder. She proved her innocence, but was so disillusioned by the process that she left the Jedi. She returned as a civilian to help Bo-Katan Kryze and Anakin during the Siege of Mandalore, but after narrowly escaping Order 66, Ahsoka buried her lightsabers and left her old life behind.
After The Clone Wars, Ahsoka lived as a mechanic named Ashla and slowly became a key asset for the Rebellion working under the codename Fulcrum. Her work in the Rebellion’s early days, which is covered in Rebels, brought her face-to-helmet with her old master, now known as Darth Vader.
Ahsoka was thought to have been murdered by his hand, but padawan Ezra Bridger was able to enter the mystical World Between Worlds, where he manipulated the fabric of time to rescue her. Ahsoka grew close to the Rebels crew, including Ezra, Hera Syndulla, Sabine Wren, and mischievous droid Chopper, all of whom will make their live-action debuts in Ahsoka.
In the Rebels finale, Ezra and our heroes’ nemesis, Grand Admiral Thrawn, were lost deep in the galaxy’s Outer Regions. Years had passed when we next saw Ahsoka in The Mandalorian, but she was still on a desperate quest to find Ezra, which will continue in Ahsoka.
Ahsoka’s actions are woven throughout the Star Wars timeline. She was introduced as a punk kid, but now she’s a wise 47 years old. She’s wielding new, neutral white lightsabers, she’s still forging her own path outside of the Jedi, and she’s looking to finally find her old friend and vanquish an old foe. It’s the biggest mission of her long journey, and we’re about to witness it.
