The Mandalorian just added the biggest Star Wars character you might never have heard of.
Ahsoka Tano is a famous Star Wars character, but not one familiar to those who only watched the main films. She was created by Mandalorian executive producer (and director of Chapter 13, "The Jedi") Dave Filoni for Clone Wars and appeared in multiple books and comics. Despite being a total badass, she never made it into the live-action Star Wars universe...until now.
We first heard Ahsoka's name in Chapter 11, when Bo-Katan Kryze tells Mando to seek her out on the forest planet of Corvus. Chapter 13 wastes no time in introducing the character, played by Rosario Dawson.
Clone Wars
Ahsoka, a Togruta of Shili, joined the Jedi order at a young age and was assigned to be the Padawan of Anakin Skywalker. The relationship was intended not only to further her Jedi training, but to assist in Anakin’s emotional development, curbing some of the rage and insecurity that made him such a volatile Jedi — and, eventually, a powerful Sith.
Ahsoka rose to commander in the Grand Army of the Republic, working alongside Anakin and Clone Captain Rex (if living, Rex would look just like Boba Fett, aka the face we glimpsed in Chapter 9) during the Clone Wars (between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith). Later, she was framed for bombing a Jedi temple, an event which led to severe betrayal by her best friend an unlikely alliance with the Sith apprentice Asajj Ventress. Ahsoka was kicked out of the Jedi Order and immensely disillusioned, even after her exoneration.
The Siege of Mandalore
Ahsoka did not rejoin the Jedi Order but became a Force-Sensitive Outcast. She continued to fight for what she believed in, including in the Siege of Mandalore with Mandalorian rebels and Bo-Katan’s faction of rebels. She earned her own beskar, and crossed paths with Anakin and Obi-Wan again — as well as Darth Maul, who wanted to work with her. Maul, who viewed Anakin as a rival, told Ahsoka that Anakin was destined to plunge the Force into darkness. But Ahsoka didn’t believe the allegations.
When the Sith enacted Order 66, the fateful activation of a dormant command that caused clone soldiers to murder Jedi en masse, Ahsoka almost died at Rex's hand. She escaped the altercation and released Maul from prison as a distraction — another moment of compelling alignment with someone who should have been an overt enemy. Notably, Ahsoka heals Rex with the the words “I am one with the Force and the Force is with me,” which we know in the movieverse from Chirrut in Rogue One, and the two escaped and went into hiding together. Ahsoka spent years agonizing over Anakin’s fate before learning that he became Darth Vader.
Under the Empire
While living in hiding (à la “Ben” Kenobi), Ahsoka continued to fight the good fight, this time joining the rebels. She crossed paths with Bail Organa, who recruited her for the rebellion, but they differed in what they thought Ahsoka’s role should be. She remained troubled by her experiences with the Jedi. Ahsoka began working intelligence for the rebellion under the code name of Fulcrum, but her activity within the Force caught the attention of Darth Vader.
Eventually, Ahsoka joined more rebels — literally the characters in Star Wars: Rebels, to whom she revealed her true identity. Ahsoka worked with Sabine Wren, another Mandalorian, and reunited with her old friend Rex. She tutored Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger, who later saved Ahsoka from a duel with Darth Vader after learning his true identity. A future version of Ezra saves Ahsoka by pulling her through a portal in time and space, where the two must fight and evade Darth Sidious. They were separated after the battle and Ezra eventually went missing.
When we catch up with her in The Mandalorian, Ahsoka is the first character in the show's history to recognize the Child's species. She tries to train him before backing out, nervous that his attachment to Din will endanger him or even push him toward the Dark Side, like Anakin, whom she alludes to reverently as "the best of us." Watching Ahsoka attempt to train Grogu is particularly significant when you learn that it was Yoda who paired her with Anakin all those years ago.
Ahsoka’s death in canon is not known, but her voice appears in The Rise of Skywalker, when the chorus of fallen Jedi encourages Rey on Exegol. Since all of those Jedi have passed, fans believed Ahsoka’s inclusion indicated that she was also dead by that point in the timeline — but Dave Filoni responded to this with a cheeky image of Gandalf, who is believed dead but then returns in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, stronger than ever.
The Mandalorian takes place well before The Rise of Skywalker, though, so whispers (sometimes screams) for Ahsoka’s inclusion in the live-action series have been around since it was first announced. Despite not being in any of the Skywalker saga or anthology films, Ahsoka is one of Star Wars’ most beloved characters, and seeing her in the flesh feels damn good.
Ahsoka premieres August 23 on Disney+.
