Summer is nothing but a memory now and fall is coming to a close. It’s time to start preparing for a long Hoth-like winter. It’s also time to start filling out our holiday wish lists. Fortunately Columbia Sportswear is back to help us with both. The company has announced its newest Star Wars winter collection. This year’s lineup celebrates the iconic flightsuit worn by one of the greatest Jedi ever. The new special-edition Skywalker Pilot Collection is an orange-ode to Luke’s X-wing garb.

And this set is Columbia’s biggest Star Wars one ever.

On December 1, 2023 Columbia wants you to take on both the elements and the Empire. That’s when it’s launching its special Skywalker Pilot Collection. The nine-piece orange and white set will keep you toasty from head to toe in the style of the famed Rebel. (It will also lead to you explaining Aurebesh to those unfamiliar with that galactic alphabet.)

The five big ticket items include:

• Skywalker Pilot Ski Suit ($500) – Luke flight suit inspires this online, limited exclusive. It’s Omni-Tech waterproof-breathable and has Omni-Heat Infinity lining. It also comes with multifunctional pockets and Star Wars extras like a T-65 X-wing Starfighter and R2-D2 blueprint graphics.
• Skywalker Pilot Ski Jacket ($350) – Luke Skywalker’s flight jacket is the foundation of this ski coat. It also features all the same features as the collection’s Ski Suit.
• Skywalker Pilot Lightweight Jacket ($200) – This is the set’s second coat based on Luke’s flight jacket. It has Omni-Heat Infinity lining, as well as comfort cuffs and zippered pockets. And it is comes adorned with a T-47 Airspeeder/Snow Speeder graphic on the security pocket.
• Skywalker Pilot Pullovers ($150) – This zippered sweatshirt is made of heavyweight cotton-blend fabric and has high-loft fleece backing. It also includes a utility chest pocket with flak-vest inspired baffling. Plus it has the same Star Wars details as the Ski Suit
• Skywalker Pilot Snow Goggle ($300) – This limited snow goggle takes its inspiration from Luke Skywalker’s helmet and visor. It comes with two interchangeable lenses with Swiftlock lens change system. It also has an anti-fog treatment and a triple-layer face foam and armored venting. It comes with a carrying pouch that features T-65 X-wing Starfighter and T-47 Airspeeder/Snow Speeder blueprint graphics. The snow goggle has its ow custom box, a Rebel patch, Star Wars logo on the inner strap, and silicone and prints inspired by helmet insignia.

Fans who want to stay warm this winter can also grab four other items. That includes a Skywalker Pilot Long Sleeve Shirt ($70). You can also opt for the short sleeve version (55). And you can round everything out with Skywalker Pilot Ball Cap ($40) and adjustable Pilot Crossbody Bag ($50)

Like we said, Columbia’s yearly winter Star Wars collection really makes filling out your holiday wish list easy. Just so long as you don’t lose track of time filling it out and get ambushed by some TIE fighters. The Skywalker Pilot Collection does not include a way to call Han Solo for help.

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This news might pose a danger to your bank account. However, after some cold, dispassionate calculations we’ve deemed the risk acceptable. Star Wars’ most resilient villain finally returned to the galaxy far, far away on Ahsoka. Now he is ready to come to your home with Hot Toys’ new Grand Admiral Thrawn figure. Only this version of the Imperial Chiss won’t arrive with an entire catacomb of mysterious cargo.

Hot Toys’ latest 1/6 scale Ahsoka figure is an “ultra-detailed” recreation of Lars Mikkelsen’s blue-skinned, red-eyed character. He recently made his live-action debut on the Disney+ series, and this figure looks like he walked right off the screen.

The miniature Thrawn, which stands nearly 12 feet 6 inches, features 30 points of articulation. It also has a hand-painted head sculpt and comes with Hot Toys’ “innovative rolling eyeball system which allows fans to adjust the figure’s gaze, creating more nuanced and lifelike poses.’ (If you thought Thrawn was imposing before just wait until someone in your house moves his eyes without telling you. That’ll be fun to realize the Grand Admiral is actually staring you down.)

This figure also wears a screen-accurate pristine white Imperial officer’s uniform that includes a belt, boots, and blaster holster. The set comes with a Star Destroyer hologram miniature, a blaster pistol, datapad, and a specially designed figure stand that has the Star Wars logo and character nameplate. And the Grand Admiral has seven interchangeable hands for you to choose from for your display.

Pre-orders are already available ($255). Unfortunately you’ll have to wait to get your hands on your figure. While it won’t take nearly as many years to ship as it did for Thrawn to get a ride back to his own galaxy, this collectible won’t arrive until March 2025.

A lot can change with that much time, we know. Empires can fall and rise in less time. But don’t worry about Thrawn not showing up. The Grand Admiral is a survivor.

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The galaxy far, far away is coming to your kitchen courtesy of Hedley & Bennett. The company specializes in bringing chef-grade cookware and apparel to home kitchens. And now the brand has launched a Star Wars collection inspired by The Mandalorian. While Hedley & Bennett already sold a handful of character aprons, it’s expanding the line and making more styles available for adults as well as kids. In addition to character aprons, this new Star Wars kitchen collection includes towels and, our personal favorite, beskar knives.

Imagine the meals Din Djarin could prepare for Grogu with these knives! They’d cut through Grogu’s favorite frog snacks with ease. It’s true that beskar doesn’t exist in our galaxy, and even in the Star Wars galaxy, it’s mostly only Mandalorians who have the metal. But Hedley & Bennett found a workaround. The beskar knife set features 67-layered folded Damascus steel blades patterned like the Star Wars metal. One side of the knives features an Imperial symbol. That makes us suspect stolen beskar is in play. The set of three knives is limited to 3,000 sets and costs $295. It comes with a chef’s knife, a bread knife, and a utility knife.

As for other items in Hedley & Bennett’s Star Wars line-up, you’ll find durable kitchen towels with two different patterns: beskar or hyperspace. The new Star Wars character aprons, made from cotton canvas, feature the titular Mandalorian, Ahsoka Tano, Grogu, and a galactic fleet pattern. Each design has little details from character costumes or the characters themselves—like little Grogu peeking above an apron pocket! Take a look at all the aprons and towels in the gallery below.

Click To View Gallery

If you have a Star Wars fan in your life who likes to cook or bake, you might just be covered for the holidays is all we’re saying. Visit Hedley & Bennett to shop the Star Wars kitchen collection.

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One can make a fine argument that C-3PO is the face of the entire Star Wars franchise. Anthony Daniels’ fussy golden protocol droid has been with the series since 1977, and for over 45 years has appeared in 10 Star Wars films, 3 animated shows, and most recently popped up on Star Wars: Ahsoka. Oh, and in one infamous Holiday Special as well. If you’ve got a cool £1 million/$1.2 million U.S. to spare, then you can now own the forever startled face of the galaxy, as the original C-3PO head from A New Hope could be yours via the Propstore’s Entertainment Memorabilia auction, coming to London November 9-12.

This particular Threepio head is one of the originals from his 1976 shoot in Tunisia and the U.K. It was a part of Anthony Daniels’ own personal collection. Other parts of his enormous Star Wars collection are also up for sale. In a statement, Daniels said “I’m thrilled that Propstore has agreed to curate my collection and I trust that the pieces will go into the right hands.” We assume whoever pays over a million dollars for this unique item will indeed take very good care of it. Hopefully, they put it in a nice, climate-controlled room with an original R2-D2 prop right next to it.

This auction will also have a metric ton of other incredible artifacts from beloved films up for grabs. We’re talking about truly iconic pieces, like Indiana Jones’ whip from Temple of Doom. Or Freddy Krueger’s glove from A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Steve Rogers’ shield from Captain America: The First Avenger. Even Stanley Kubrick’s original annotated shooting script for The Shining is among the items. But if you’re only in it for the Star Wars of it all? Then there is a wealth of items from the franchise for you, from the original films to today. This is definitely an auction that true collectors of Hollywood treasure (with very deep pockets) can’t afford to miss, especially if they want a C-3PO head.

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Not that long ago in this galaxy, Guillermo del Toro hoped to make a Star Wars movie. The Oscar-winning director wanted to tell a story about the franchise’s notorious crime lord Jabba the Hutt. It’s one of the great “what ifs” in Star Wars history. The film would have featured one of Hollywood’s best filmmakers exploring a truly iconic character in-depth. What would that have looked like? Sadly we’ll never know, but in a recent interview del Toro offered new insights into what he had planned for Tatooine’s larger-than-life gangster.

During a recent sit down with Collider Guillermo del Toro discussed his scrapped Jabba the Hutt project. He said his movie would have covered “the rise and fall” of Return of the Jedi‘s crime boss. The director also said his team “designed a great world” full of “great stuff” del Toro was very happy with.

What that all means exactly will remain the stuff of dreams for now and possibly forever. We don’t have to guess nearly as much as to why the feature film never went into development, though. Del Toro said ultimately it didn’t happen because “it’s not my property, it’s not my money, and then it’s one of those 30 screenplays that goes away.”

Translation: Lucasfilm didn’t like it enough to go into production.

How much of the studio’s decision had to do with the reaction to the franchise’s other standalone films at the time? Had Solo done better at the box office would del Toro’s Jabba the Hutt movie have happened? The director isn’t sweating it. He said when he tries to answer why his movie never moved forward he tells himself, “The more you swim upstream with the universe, the less you’re gonna realize where you’re going.”

That’s a great attitude for him. (And probably also Jabba, but for a different reason. We imagine the Hutt was not a great swimmer.) But that doesn’t make us feel better about what could have been. We wish every galaxy in the universe got to see del Toro’s Star Wars movie.

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Ahsoka featured some of the franchise’s best characters, yet it was a newcomer who was my favorite figure on the show. Baylan Skoll is among the most interesting, most complex Force users to ever grace a Star Wars screen. And in a less cruel universe I’d be writing this piece entirely about why, what the season one finale meant for his quest on Peridea, and why Baylan might end up a truly seminal figure in the galaxy far, far away. Instead the episode marked the late Ray Stevenson’s final Star Wars appearance. It shouldn’t have been. It doesn’t seem possible it was. Not only was he far too young, he looked to made out of the same kind of stone as the Father’s statue. “The Jedi, the Witch, and the Warlord” shouldn’t have been his farewell. It should have marked the start of a much longer journey with him.

But while life isn’t fair in any galaxy, it at least it gave us one final chance to appreciate an immense talent. Ray Stevenson’s graceful and moving performance imbued Baylan Skoll with a humanity that will ensure the actor’s memory forever lives on with Star Wars fans.

We don’t know details about Baylan Skoll’s past, but his history with the Jedi contributed to him being a fascinating character. Some Jedi survived Order 66, but unlike most of them, as far as we understand, Baylan knew the truth about Anakin Skywalker. He knew the most revered and admired Jedi had been the one to destroy the Order. One of his own killed everything Baylan ever believed in, a knowledge most were not burdened to live with during a terrible period.

That horrifying fact and all the pain, sadness, fear, and anger it likely created in Baylan didn’t cause him to become disillusioned. We don’t know Baylan’s entire history, but it seems he did not fully embrace the dark side like other good Jedi who lost their souls to hatred. Baylan didn’t respond in the other usual ways, either. He didn’t carve out his own path as a rogue Jedi like Ahsoka. Nor did he go into hiding and turn his back on the Force. We believe Baylan Skoll followed a path unlike any other Force-user.

Anakin’s betrayal showed Baylan the destructive power of the dark side. Yet, despite still appreciating the best ideals of the Jedi, Baylan’s firsthand knowledge of the Order’s own failures also pushed him away from the light side of the Force. The Jedi had no business turning Knights like him into generals. The Jedi were meant to be guardians of peace and justice for everyone. Instead they let themselves becomes soldiers in a war with innocent victims on both sides. That Jedi arrogance blinded them and left the Order vulnerable to a Sith Lord. To Baylan that might have made the Jedi just as guilty as Vader and Palpatine. The Order’s action created widespread death and destruction on the galaxy, too.

Rather than letting his lost “faith” define him, Baylan instead seemingly let it focus him. He gave up on the ideals that had cost him everything and became a pragmatist. He became the galaxy’s Machiavellian figure, a warrior who thought of war as evil but necessary. Baylan could kill New Republic soldiers without remorse yet still honor a deal made with a captured enemy. He was neither good nor evil, yet both at the same time. He was a man of contradictions who used them to form a new outlook on life. For Baylan straddled the line between the light and dark side of the Force. Only in the middle did he see a way to free everyone from suffering.

Baylan’s desire to offer his galaxy something better than the Jedi or Sith ever gave it brought him to Peridea. Baylan was looking to something on that ancient planet for “the beginning” of all his galaxy’s problems. He believes those problems began when a group of people learned how to harness the Force and formed the Jedi Order. Whatever the statue of the Mortis god known as the Father is pointing to, it offers Baylan hope.

Others spent their entire lives fighting for a power that blows like the wind. Only Baylan—who kindly freed the apprentice he taught to be more than a Jedi or a Sith from following him on a journey without guarantee —is searching for a peace that lasts.

That all made Baylan Skoll a fascinating character. But that’s not what made Baylan Skoll a truly great one. Ahsoka needed Ray Stevenson to do that. He brought all those contradictions—interesting elements that easily could have been clunky and unbelievable in less skilled hands—to life. Stevenson did that with deftness that made a complicated figure feel accessible, both repugnant and sympathetic at once. He turned a great idea into righteous disappointment, heartbreak, quiet focus, and a sense of purpose that felt real. He made Baylan feel as tangible as anyone in any galaxy. It was the kind of performance only an immensely talented performer who understands at their core what it means to live and feel alive could give.

That came from Stevenson’s ability to always convey Baylan’s inherent sadness. That even though Baylan was almost always in control of his emotions. With his eyes, face, and the way he physically carried himself, Ray Stevenson showed the many painful burdens and traumas the former Jedi carried at all time. That ability to emote while keeping his composure made for a powerful presence. Baylan was terrifying and compassionate all at once. We understood and sympathized with him even if we detested much of what he did. And that ability to convey so much while doing or saying so little made Baylan’s brief explosions of anger and quiet moments of sad reflection stand out that much more. He was a volcano of emotions holding it together. Because he knew allowing himself to erupt would lead to to the death and destruction he so desperately wanted to end forever.

No, not “was.” He “is.” Because stories, even those from a long, long time ago, live forever. Every time we pick them back up they are there, unfolding in the moment. So right now and always Baylan Skoll is in a galaxy far, far away from his own. He’s standing on the Father’s arm looking out to the horizon where he sees hope for a better future. He sees the possibility to create a universe that’s less cruel than the one he knows. It’s a universe where a complicated man can turn his pain into something better. Onenot defined by death.

It’s a beautiful thought that needed a beautiful performance full of humanity to bring it to life. So while we will always wish Ray Stevenson got to finish telling that story, we’ll forever be grateful we got to meet his Baylan Skoll. He made Star Wars a better place than he found it, and for that he’ll forever live on in the galaxy far, far away.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on  Twitter and  Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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One of the big questions as Star Wars: Ahsoka continued week after week was whether Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), the Mandalorian turned Jedi apprentice to Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson), would develop any Force abilities. For much of the run of the series, despite her proficiency with a lightsaber, something that dates back to Star Wars Rebels, we saw almost no evidence that Sabine had any real Force sensitivity. But Ahsoka believed she had the potential. In the final episode of Ahsoka, “The Jedi, the Witch, and the Warlord,” Sabine is finally able to wield the Force.

Sabine Became Ahsoka’s Apprentice After Rebels, But Struggled

Throughout the series, we learn details about Sabine’s time as Ahsoka’s apprentice. Apparently, she took her under her wing after the end of Rebels, and the destruction of the second Death Star. But Sabine’s whole family, Clan Wren, was killed in the Night of a Thousand Tears, when the Empire completely devastated Mandalore, leaving the planet a burning ruin. Ahsoka thought with so much anger and resentment in her, that it would not be wise to train Sabine in the ways of the Force. So she abandoned her training for many years as a result.

There’s also the fact that Sabine, at least in Rebels, had shown little to no abilities using the Force. Unlike Ezra Bridger, who showed a natural talent from the get-go. However, little abilities do not mean none. Because Sabine trained with Kanan Jarrus on how to use the Darksaber. And as Star Wars lore tells us, wielding a lightsaber is more than just being good at swordplay. To be truly good at it, there must be some connection between the user and the blade that involves the Force. And Sabine got pretty good at using the Darksaber in battle.

Ahsoka Showed Sabine Resume Her Training, But Still Failing at Using the Force

Early in Ahsoka, we saw Sabine try (and fail) to use the Force many times. At one moment, she tried to bring a cup towards her, and she couldn’t do it. The Jedi training droid Huyang told her that in all of his years helping build lightsabers for Jedi younglings, he’d never seen anyone with as little Force talent as Sabine. (We don’t need to verbalize all our opinions Huyang.) We don’t know what Sabine’s Midichlorian count was, but it surely would not have been enough to get her into the Jedi Temple as a child.

Luckily, Ahsoka Tano had a larger view of the Force. This is possibly due to her dissatisfaction with the dogmatic ways of the Jedi Order when she herself was a Padawan learner. She believed, as Master Yoda once said, that the Force resides in all living things, not just beings who show extra abilities at a young age. Ahsoka believes anyone can learn to wield it with proper training and patience. And we saw that training finally paid off for Sabine in the Ahsoka finale.

Sabine Finally Wields the Force in the Ahsoka Finale

At the climax of the episode, Sabine and Ezra Bridger are fighting off a battalion of Thrawn’s zombified Night Troopers, as the Grand Admiral tries to get away in the Hyperspace Ring. At one moment, Sabine loses her saber, which once belonged to Ezra. As a Night Trooper has her by the throat, Sabine is finally able to use the Force to summon her saber to her. She then takes the trooper out with a lightsaber to the head. Later, she gives Ezra a bit of a hand when she helps Force push him back onto Thrawn’s Star Destroyer. This act allows him to get back home. After eight episodes, Sabine Wren finally can call herself a Jedi. Or, at the very least, a true Jedi Padawan.

With Ahsoka and Sabine now stranded on the planet Peridea, Ahsoka will have plenty of time to train her apprentice even further. So we imagine the next time, she’ll be doing more than just summoning her lightsaber in a life-or-death moment and more than giving a little extra Force push to a friend. Sabine Wren is living proof that with a little patience and perseverance, any living being can use the Force.

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Morgan Elsbeth is more than a fervent follower of Grand Admiral Thrawn. She’s a Dathomirian Nightsister. Morgan heard the Great Mothers’ dreams across the galaxy and made the plan to locate Thrawn. It was Morgan who planned the construction of the Eye of Sion and searched for the map to Peridea. In the Ahsoka finale, the Great Mothers, ancient Dathomirian witches, rewarded Morgan for her help and loyalty. They bestowed her with what seemed like greater power and magicks, and they gave her the Blade of Talzin. The weapon, which the Great Mothers conjured from swirling green magicks, is one we’ve seen in Star Wars before.

What Is the Blade of Talzin?

The Blade of Talzin is a sword made out of Dathomirian magick. Nightsisters can bring it into existence for themselves or to give to others. The Blade of Talzin appears to be metal, with green flames wrapping around its blade. There also appears to be an inscription on it. The blade is strong enough to withstand blows from a lightsaber.

Why the Great Mothers Gifted Morgan Elsbeth with the Blade of Talzin in Ahsoka

Morgan answered the call of the Great Mothers. She found a way to successfully travel to a whole other galaxy and to safely return home. By doing so, she honored her Dathomirian heritage in an immeasurable fashion. For her actions, and likely her belief, the Great Mothers gifted Morgan the Blade of Talzin after Morgan pledged herself to the sisterhood and its old ways. Based on Morgan’s reverence in the moment, we can guess the weapon is legendary, known to the Dathomirian witches.

It didn’t take long for Morgan to put the Blade of Talzin to use. In order to give Thrawn and the Great Mothers the best chance at leaving Peridea, she stayed behind to fight Ahsoka, Sabine, and Ezra. Morgan went toe-to-toe with Ahsoka’s two lightsabers, using the Blade of Talzin to destroy one of Ahsoka’s lightsaber hilts. Ultimately, Ahsoka wrested the Blade of Talzin from Morgan and used it to kill her. But with the power the Great Mothers gave her, who knows if Morgan is really dead?

Though Ahsoka held the Blade of Talzin after Morgan’s death, we didn’t see it again as Ahsoka and Sabine made their escape. Perhaps it disappeared back into the ether, waiting to be called upon again.

Has the Blade of Talzin Appeared in Star Wars Before?

We’ve seen the Blade of Talzin once before in Star Wars. In the sixth season of The Clone Wars (nearly 30 years before the events of Ahsoka), Mother Talzin summoned the weapon to fight Mace Windu at the Temple of Malmourral, a Bardottan demon of war. Talzin was there to perform a ritual sacrifice that would grant her a massive amount of power. She brought the blade out of the ether in a rush of green flames, though the hilt here is different than the hilt when Morgan receives it. Talzin’s magical sword held up well against Mace Windu’s lightsaber, but ultimately, Talzin lost the battle. This was the last time we saw Talzin on the screen.

Featured Image: Lucasfilm

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Ahsoka brought Star Wars’ World Between Worlds to live-action. That strange dimension first introduced on Star Wars Rebels is also intimately tied to another important realm in the franchise. The World Between Worlds has deep ties with Mortis, a mystical place where powerful Force users known as the Mortis gods once called home. Who were Star Wars’ Mortis gods, and why are they so important to Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, and the Force itself? And why did Baylan Skoll discover statues of them on an ancient planet in a distant galaxy? They might hold the key to understanding why Ahsoka is so important to the galaxy far, far away.

Where Is Mortis Located?

Mortis, spoken of only as legend for millennia, defies normal description. It’s technically located in uncharted space, but not really. Star Wars‘ Mortis is an ethereal, dream-like dimension unto itself that sits outside of normal space and time, just like the World Between Worlds.

Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka Tano’s story on Mortis began when they answered an ancient Jedi distress signal in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. When they arrived at the origin of the call’s signal, a nearby Republic ship couldn’t locate them on radar. A giant black and red monolith resembling two pyramids stacked opposite each other then appeared. It pulled them into Mortis, which serves as a “conduit” of the entire Force. (Some believe the Force itself came from Mortis.) During the day, the world appeared as a paradise. At night everything died as it transformed into a dark nightmare.

Mortis is ultimately better understood not by what it is like but by those who once ruled there.

Who Are Star Wars’ Mortis Gods from The Clone Wars?

Known as “The Ones” in Star Wars‘ world, the Mortis gods were a family of three immensely powerful Force-wielders. The Clone Wars indicated The Ones were at least 2,000 years old, but their real age was likely at least 25,000. Jedi images of the Mortis gods date that far back, to the Order’s founding.

Together the three Mortis gods represented the living embodiment of the Force.

Who Was Mortis’ The Father?

The wise, immensely powerful Father loved both of his children equally. His Daughter represented the light side of the Force, while his Son represented the dark side. The Father represented balance between both. His need to control his kids brought them all to Mortis. There he was able to keep their outsized power in check, protecting the galaxy.

The Father’s children also gained their power and immortality through his own.

Who Was Mortis’ The Daughter?

The kindly Daughter could transform into a massive griffin. She did so when kidnapping Obi-Wan as part of her Father’s test of Anakin. (The Son kidnapped Ahsoka.)

The Daughter, a great Force-using warrior, tried to stop her equally powerful dark side-embracing sibling from killing their Father. She died when her brother accidentally stabbed her while attacking their dad.

Who Was Mortis’ The Son?

The Son, who could change into a giant flying gargoyle, had begun to further embrace the dark side even more. That led him to try and escape Mortis and rule the galaxy. It also led him to trick others by disguising himself as their loved ones. The Son even possessed and then killed Ahsoka Tano as part of his efforts to flee Mortis. (We’ll get to how she survived later.)

His attempt to kill his Father resulted in the Son accidentally killing his sister, whom he loved. Her death left the Son heartbroken.

The Son lost his power and then his life after the Father killed himself so he could stop his child from bringing darkness to the whole galaxy. As the Son screamed out in pain, Anakin stabbed him with a lightsaber, killing the last Mortis god.

The Mortis Gods Star Wars History on The Clone Wars and Rebels

The Mortis gods only appeared as living creatures during a three-episode arc on Star Wars: The Clone Wars. That didn’t stop them from making their presence felt on Star Wars Rebels.

What Happened With the Mortis Gods on The Clone Wars?

In Star Wars: The Clone Wars, The Father lured Anakin Skywalker to Mortis after hearing rumors Anakin was the Chosen One. The Father was dying and needed someone to take his place and keep his children in check. Anakin passed the Father’s test, proving he could take up his mantle on Mortis so he could keep the Force in balance. Anakin refused, setting the Mortis gods’ deaths in motion.

During the Mortis arc, the Father made Anakin forget the vision the Son had shown the Jedi. The Son had revealed the possible future where Anakin became Darth Vader, a path Anakin ultimately followed. But the three Jedi remembered everything else that happened to them on Mortis.

What Happened With the Mortis Gods on Star Wars Rebels?

In Star Wars Rebels, Ezra Bridger traveled to the World Between Worlds via a portal created by a painting of the Mortis gods. The ancient mural at the Jedi Temple on Lothal, a planet with a strong connection to the Force, showed the three Mortis gods along with Star Wars’ Loth-wolves. The painting began to light up and move when Ezra touched the Daughter’s open hand and connected with the Force. The painting’s Loth-wolves then began moving along the rock wall, eventually creating a magical doorway for Ezra—and Ezra alone—to travel through.

He wasn’t alone when he got there.

Ahsoka Tano’s Connection to Mortis and the World Between Worlds

The Daughter’s last act was to help save Ahsoka Tano’s life. After her brother’s fatal blow, the Father and Daughter let Anakin transfer the Daughter’s last remaining life force into the dead Ahsoka. It worked, as Anakin resurrected his Padawan with the help of the Mortis god.

The metaphorical connections between Anakin (dark side) and Ahsoka (light side) and the Son and Daughter were obvious. They then became far more tangible on Star Wars Rebels.

How Does Morai Bind Ahsoka Tano and The Daughter From Mortis?

Ahsoka had a companion in Star Wars Rebels, the convor named Morai. The little green-feathered sidekick seemed to watch over the Jedi even before it became clear Morai was not a normal animal.

Morai—whose name comes from the three Fates of Greek mythology—appeared in ancient images alongside the Daughter, including the painting on Lothal. She was either the Daughter’s servant or a manifestation of the Mortis god. Either way, Morai represents the light side of the Force and the Daughter.

She was also there when Ezra Bridger arrived in the World Between Worlds.

How the Mortis Gods Connect to the World Between Worlds and Ahsoka

Inside the World Between Worlds, Ezra found Morai resting atop a portal. That doorway then opened to show the moment years prior when Ezra wrongly believed Darth Vader had killed Ahsoka Tano. Viewers knew she’d survived, but not how. She lived because Ezra pulled Ahsoka into the World Between Worlds right before Vader’s deadly blow.

When the two left the dimension—itself a conduit of the Force, like Mortis—Morai rejoined Ahsoka. The bird then immediately led Ahsoka back into the World Between Worlds. (The specifics of that journey, only shown via canonical Topps Trading Cards Dave Filoni designed, remain a mystery.)

Why did Morai join Ahsoka in the first place? Why did the bird then usher Ahsoka in and out of the World Between Worlds? Did Ahsoka take the Daughter’s place when Anakin transferred the Mortis god’s essence into his Padawan? Is that why Ahsoka didn’t die when she fell from that henge in Seatos? Is she a kind of Star Wars Force god like the Mortis gods were? Does she at least have some god-like powers? An unbreakable connection with the World Between Worlds and the Force so strong it saved her?

Those were all of the questions we had before Ahsoka‘s season one finale, which raised even more about the Mortis gods’s role in both Star Wars‘ past and future.

What Did Ahsoka‘s Season One Finale Reveal About the Mortis Gods and Baylan Skoll’s Quest?

Baylan Skoll is a former Jedi who hates both the Jedi and Sith. He’s now a Force-user who straddles the line between light and dark. He is also searching for “the beginning” on Peridea in a quest to find a power far greater than anything Thrawn seeks.

What Are the Statues Baylan Skoll Encounters in Ahsoka‘s Season One Finale?

Ahsoka‘s finale revealed that his quest and that strange Force-sensitive planet are both connected to the Mortis gods. Peridea, an ancient world in a distant galaxy with a mysterious past that predates the Jedi Order’s creation, is home to giant statues of the Father, the Son, and the Daughter.

What Do These Peridea Statues in Ahsoka Tell Us About Star Wars‘ Mortis Gods

Is Peridea where the Mortis gods came from? Did they help create the Jedi? Did the Mortis gods cross the universe via the World Between Worlds? How are the Mortis gods connected to Peridea and, therefore, the Force? Why is the statue of the Daughter missing its head when the other two gods remain intact on Ahsoka? Does that have anything to do with why Morai appeared before Ahsoka Tano there? And what is the Father’s statue on Peridea pointing to? Is it guiding Baylan Skoll to the beginning he seeks?

Ahsoka revealed more about the galaxy far, far away’s origins than we ever knew. It showed it began in a galaxy far, far away from itself. The series also revealed the Mortis gods own history is even more important than we knew. But Ahsoka also raised even more questions about those powerful figures and their intimate connections with the Force Mortis, the World Between Worlds, Peridea, and Ahsoka Tano.

What does it all mean? We don’t know yet. But we do know she said she’s right where she’s supposed to be. And where she is is on a world in need of a Daughter who represents the light every galaxy needs.

Originally published on September 11, 2023.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter and  Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

The post How STAR WARS’ Mortis Gods Connect to AHSOKA and the World Between Worlds appeared first on Nerdist.

Ahsoka‘s first season ended with Thrawn back in the galaxy far, far away. The proverbial heir to the Empire is also returning with a potential army of dark magic witches beholden to him. That was far from the episode’s only big development, though. In Ahsoka‘s finale Sabine finally learned how to use the Force, Ezra made it home while his friends didn’t, Baylan took a big step on a journey with major connections to the Force itself, and an important little green bird from Star Wars‘ past returned. Anakin Skywalker’s ghost even appeared during the season’s final moment, in an episode that will huge ramifications for the entire franchise.

Here’s everything you need to know about Ahsoka‘s finale, what it all means, and what questions still need answers.

Jump to: The Meaning of Ahsoka‘s Finale Title // The Great Mothers, Morgan Elsbeth, and the Blade of Talzin // How Did the Nightsisters Create Zombie Stormtroopers? // Why Did the Great Mothers and Thrawn Bring the Catacombs to Dathomir? // Who Does Thrawn Actually Serve? // Who is Kanan Jarrus, and What Was His Relationship With Ezra Bridger? // Why Did Ahsoka Walk Previously Away from Sabine’s Training? // Why Does Thrawn Not Really Understand Ahsoka Tano? // Will the New Republic Listen to Ezra Bridger? // What Happened to Shin Hati? // What Were Those Statues Baylan Skoll Stood on in Ahsoka‘s Finale? // What Was the Bird Ahsoka Tano Saw on Peridea? // Why Did Anakin Skywalker’s Ghost Appear in Ahsoka‘s Finale?

What Did the Title of Ahsoka‘s Season One Finale Mean?

The title of Ahsoka‘s season one finale, “The Jedi, The Witch, and The Warlord,” was a direct reference to C.S. Lewis’ classic kids book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Both stories feature evil witches, prophecies, resurrections, connections to gods, and a magical portal that can transport people between worlds.

Liam Neeson probably loved it.

What Did the Great Mothers Do to Morgan Elsbeth and What Is the Blade of Talzin?

The Great Mothers rewarded Morgan Elsbeth “who heard our dreams across the stars,” by giving her “the gift of shadows.” Once Lady Elsbeth swore to dedicate her life to the Nightsisters and the old ways they imbued her with their strongest dark majiks. Powers like that are reserved for their clan’s most powerful witches. When Morgan Elsbeth’s eyes went green and then dark with the Nightsisters’ powers and markings appeared on her face, she truly became a full-fledged member of the witches.

The Great Mothers then conjured up “the blade of Talzin” to bestow on Elsbeth. This Ahsoka finale weapon first appeared on Star Wars: The Clone Wars. In the animated series Mother Talzin, the coven’s spiritual guide and leader, summoned it to fight Mace Windu. The sword also harnesses the Nightsisters’ magical ichor.

How Did the Nightsisters Resurrect the Dead Stormtroopers in Ahsoka‘s Finale?

In Ahsoka‘s finale, the Nightsisters used their dark-side magic to resurrect the dead stormtroopers who fell fighting Ahsoka, Sabine, and Ezra and turned them into zombie stormtroopers. That was a new trick for Ezra and Sabine, but not for Star Wars fans. The coven raised an army of the dead on The Clone Wars. Those recently deceased night troopers were not the episode’s scariest, though.

The two powerful stormtroopers Sabine and Ezra fought on the platform had been dead for much longer. When Sabine partially destroyed one of their helmets she revealed a rotting, horrifying corpse underneath. The Nightsisters’ ability to summon the dead on their behalf is long-lasting and terrifying than we knew. We wonder if we’ll see an army of these zombie stormtroopers in Star Wars outings to come.

Why Did the Great Mothers and Thrawn Bring the Catacombs With Them to Dathomir?

Ahsoka‘s season one finale revealed Thrawn did not simply encounter the Great Mothers on Peridea. Ezra said the Grand Admiral “woke up the witches.” Why were they asleep? Were they actually dead themselves? How old are they? And how did they know about Talzin and her sword?

More importantly, can Thrawn or the Great Mothers now “wake up” all those dead Nightsisters they took with them? They must have emptied the catacombs on Peridea for a reason. Was it simply a matter of respecting the dead? Or are they going to resurrect dead Nightsisters to restore the lost coven on Dathomir? Morgan Elsbeth gave her life in her home world’s name. Would she have done that without a guarantee Dathomir’s Nightsisters would reign there once again?

Jump to: The Meaning of Ahsoka‘s Finale Title // The Great Mothers, Morgan Elsbeth, and the Blade of Talzin // How Did the Nightsisters Create Zombie Stormtroopers? // Why Did the Great Mothers and Thrawn Bring the Catacombs to Dathomir? // Who Does Thrawn Actually Serve? // Who is Kanan Jarrus, and What Was His Relationship With Ezra Bridger? // Why Did Ahsoka Walk Previously Away from Sabine’s Training? // Why Does Thrawn Not Really Understand Ahsoka Tano? // Will the New Republic Listen to Ezra Bridger? // What Happened to Shin Hati? // What Were Those Statues Baylan Skoll Stood on in Ahsoka‘s Finale? // What Was the Bird Ahsoka Tano Saw on Peridea? // Why Did Anakin Skywalker’s Ghost Appear in Ahsoka‘s Finale?

Who Does Thrawn Actually Serve: Himself or the Empire?

A decade of exile in a distant galaxy resulted in Thrawn becoming a kind of cult leader. Not only did Force-using witches serve him loyally (to the death in Morgan Elsbeth’s case), his night troopers willingly volunteered to die for him, even though a return home was mere moments away.

Thrawn continuously dismissed any suggestion people serve him personally. He said they all serve the Empire and “the security of our galaxy.” But does he mean that? How much did his exile and being entirely in charge change him? How will that impact his working relationship with the Imperial leaders on the Shadow Council? And if Thrawn does consider himself the rightful heir to the Empire, how will he feel about plans to resurrect Palpatine? (Especially when the Great Mothers might be able to help with that endeavor?)

Who is Kanan Jarrus, and What Was His Relationship With Ezra Bridger?

The great Kanan Jarrus was born Caleb Dume. As a young Padawan, he learned how to build a lightsaber from Huyang. Caleb also survived Order 66 and changed his name while in hiding. Later in life, he became Ezra Bridger’s Master and sacrificed himself to save his fellow rebels. He was also the love of Hera Syndulla’s life, but Kanan died before the birth of their son Jacen. He also was the first Jedi to teach Sabine Wren how to use a lightsaber.

In Ahsoka‘s finale, Huyang brings Kanan Jarrus up when he offers Ezra a necessary piece for the lightsaber he is fixing. The hilt Huyang gives Ezra was meant for Kanan Jarrus’ lightsaber. In Ahsoka‘s finale, the conversation about Ezra and Kanan’s relationship evokes many considerations of the bond between a Jedi and his Padawan.

Why Did Ahsoka Walk Away from Sabine’s Training Before the Series?

Huyang told Ezra the real reason Ahsoka Tano walked away from training Sabine Wren originally. Ahsoka feared Sabine wanted to become a Jedi so she could get revenge for the Siege of Mandalore. The Empire’s destruction of the planet killed hundreds of thousands of Mandalorians. That included Sabine’s entire family. Ahsoka feared that if Sabine “unlocked her potential” Sabine’s anger would make her “dangerous.”

That didn’t happen when Sabine finally did tap into the Force during her fight with the powerful zombie trooper. Sabine helped Ezra onto the Eye of Sion before going back to help Ahsoka rather than go after Thrawn. She also accepted their seeming fate on Peridea.

Why Does Thrawn Not Really Understand Ahsoka Tano?

Thrawn knew Ahsoka Tano’s Master. The Grand Admiral believed that gave him meaningful insight into who Ahsoka is; he says as much in Ahsoka‘s finale. But it’s clear he doesn’t fully understand her.

Thrawn openly wondered if Ahsoka might one day also follow Anakin’s path to the dark side. Even suggesting she’s capable of that (especially after Ahsoka passed her final lesson with Anakin in the World Between Worlds) shows Thrawn isn’t Ahsoka expert he believes. He does not really understand who Ahsoka is and why. That could one day result in him underestimating her when it matters most.

Jump to: The Meaning of Ahsoka‘s Finale Title // The Great Mothers, Morgan Elsbeth, and the Blade of Talzin // How Did the Nightsisters Create Zombie Stormtroopers? // Why Did the Great Mothers and Thrawn Bring the Catacombs to Dathomir? // Who Does Thrawn Actually Serve? // Who is Kanan Jarrus, and What Was His Relationship With Ezra Bridger? // Why Did Ahsoka Walk Previously Away from Sabine’s Training? // Why Does Thrawn Not Really Understand Ahsoka Tano? // Will the New Republic Listen to Ezra Bridger? // What Happened to Shin Hati? // What Were Those Statues Baylan Skoll Stood on in Ahsoka‘s Finale? // What Was the Bird Ahsoka Tano Saw on Peridea? // Why Did Anakin Skywalker’s Ghost Appear in Ahsoka‘s Finale?

Will the New Republic Listen to Ezra Bridger After Ahsoka‘s Finale?

The New Republic hasn’t supported Hera Syndulla or taken the threat of Thrawn returning seriously. Now that the long-missing Ezra Bridger himself is back in his right galaxy, will they finally wake up and listen to him? Or will Senator Xiono and his colleagues continue to find ways to dismiss the existential threat they all face?

What Happened to Shin Hati on Ahsoka?

After Ahsoka showed Shin Hati mercy, the former Baylan Skoll apprentice did not return to Thrawn’s side. Shin passed on a chance to take her position in a new Empire and decided to stay on Peridea. Lost and without a Master to guide her, Shin then returned to the warrior clan she’d recently fought alongside.

Shin’s now stuck in a distant galaxy on a planet with the Jedi who spared her life. (And another Jedi Shin tried to kill multiple times.) What will that mean for her future? For Ahsoka and Sabine’s? In Star Wars, Jedi showing their enemies mercy often leads to them becoming allies, but is Shin too scared to ever trust someone she learned to hate? Could she instead rejoin her former Master who is also still on Peridea?

What Were Those Statues Baylan Skoll Stood on in Ahsoka‘s Finale?

Baylan Skoll’s quest to find “the beginning” on Peridea led him to gigantic statues of major Star Wars figures introduced on The Clone Wars. The bearded statue Baylan Skoll saw was that of the Father, the powerful ancient Force being and patriarch of the Mortis gods. The Father kept his Son (representing the dark side of the Force) and his Daughter (the light) in balance for at least 25,000 years before they all died. (That dates them back to the very founding of the Jedi Order.) The Son’s statue on Peridea remains standing in full alongside the Father’s—which seems to point the way for Baylan’s next step. However, the Daughter’s statue no longer has a head. What does that mean?

Ahsoka Tano owes her life to the Daughter, and some think the Jedi is the living embodiment of the dead Mortis god. Is Baylan Skoll—a Force user who straddles light and dark and hates both the Jedi and Sith—now the dead Father’s living representative? If so, who is the Son’s? And what does the presence of tehse Ahsoka finale statues on Peridea mean for the Force and “the beginning” Baylan seeks? Does he want to bring balance by destroying the Force forever?

The implications of Baylan’s quest are now bigger and more important than ever. As the former Jedi said, the power he seeks is far greater than any Thrawn wants.

What Was the Bird Ahsoka Tano Saw on Peridea?

How will Ahsoka, Sabine, and Huyang get back to the galaxy far, far away without either the Eye of Sion or Purrgil to take them across the vast universe? They might follow a small green bird through a magical portal. That winged creature Ahsoka saw near the finale’s end looked exactly like Morai, the convor bird who was once Ahsoka’s companion. Morai also appeared on the shoulder of the Daughter in ancient paintings of the Mortis gods. And Morai helped guide Ezra and Ahsoka in and out of the World Between Worlds previously.

If this bird is Morai in some form, it might lead Ahsoka and her friends back to the World Between Worlds, which would give them a way home. That dimension exists outside space and time. It has portals to different places and times. One of which will let them return to their home galaxy.

Why Did Anakin Skywalker’s Ghost Appear at the End of Ahsoka‘s Season 1 Finale?

Anakin Skywalker has been looking after his old Padawan since she fell from the ancient temple on Seatos. He helped Ahsoka unlock her heart in the World Between Worlds, and his old lessons helped guide Ahsoka on how to best teach Sabine. He was also there on Peridea in the season’s final moment. While neither Sabine nor Ahsoka could see him, they both sensed the “shadows in the starlight.” That provided comfort to Ahsoka.

At first, Anakin—the Mortis Father’s chosen replacement who killed the Son and used the Daughter’s essence to save Ahsoka—seemed worried. But as the episode came to an end, he began to smile. In an episode and season where so many things went wrong, his presence on Peridea during the finale served as a sign that even though many dark days lie ahead, Ahsoka will continue to be a beacon of hope in every galaxy.

Jump to: The Meaning of Ahsoka‘s Finale Title // The Great Mothers, Morgan Elsbeth, and the Blade of Talzin // How Did the Nightsisters Create Zombie Stormtroopers? // Why Did the Great Mothers and Thrawn Bring the Catacombs to Dathomir? // Who Does Thrawn Actually Serve? // Who is Kanan Jarrus, and What Was His Relationship With Ezra Bridger? // Why Did Ahsoka Walk Previously Away from Sabine’s Training? // Why Does Thrawn Not Really Understand Ahsoka Tano? // Will the New Republic Listen to Ezra Bridger? // What Happened to Shin Hati? // What Were Those Statues Baylan Skoll Stood on in Ahsoka‘s Finale? // What Was the Bird Ahsoka Tano Saw on Peridea? // Why Did Anakin Skywalker’s Ghost Appear in Ahsoka‘s Finale?

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on  Twitter and  Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

The post AHSOKA’s Finale, Explained: What Season 1 Means for STAR WARS’ Future appeared first on Nerdist.

This season of Ahsoka has been all about the fantastical and the darkly strange. And so, we were expecting nothing less from the Star Wars series’ finale, and we were not disappointed. Ahsoka, Sabine, and Ezra have faced many treacherous foes over Ahsoka‘s eight episodes, but one of the most twisted and frightening was saved for last.

Zombie Stormtroopers in Ahsoka‘s Finale

From Grand Admiral Thrawn’s first appearance in Ahsoka, we’ve known of his partnership with the Great Mothers. The powerful Dathomirian witches seem closely connected to the tenacious Imperial. They stand at Thrawn’s side, ready to help. We see red fabric reminiscent of their robes wrapped around Thrawn’s night troopers’ shabby armor. And in the Ahsoka finale, we saw the strength of Great Mothers’ dark magick when, at Thrawn’s behest, they brought dead night troopers back to life. Yes, Ahsoka gave us zombie stormtroopers in live-action, and it was as haunting as you’d imagine. These death troopers, infused with the misty green magick of the Nightsisters, reanimated against Ahsoka, Sabine, and Ezra and could seemingly only be killed with shots (or lightsabers) to the head. The new zombie stormtroopers have gruesome decaying flesh and everything.

Have Zombies Appeared in Star Wars Before?

Your brain may not jump to the word “undead” when you think of Star Wars. That’s fair. But Ahsoka‘s zombie stormtroopers aside, it’s not a new concept. In fact, we’ve seen the ideas of zombies go hand in hand with the Dathomirian Nightsisters before in the current, canonical Star Wars storytelling universe. In Star Wars: The Clone Wars, we saw a Dathomirian Nightsister, Old Daka, resurrect corpses from a graveyard using a specific chant. Daka raised this undead army in “Massacre.” In the Star Wars show, she tasked the resurrected zombie Nightsisters to fight against Separatists who were trying to carry out Count Dooku’s revenge against the witches. Daka tells the corpses, “Rise, sisters. Undead sisters, rise from your sleep. The time has come. Awaken. You have been called upon.”

General Grievous killed Daka in the battle, but she was the oldest of the Nightsisters on Dathomir and very likely the most powerful. Even Mother Talzin didn’t have Daka’s level of knowledge. Perhaps Daka once learned the resurrection chant and other magick from the Great Mothers.

We have to wonder if Marrok, the Inquisitor who fought beside Baylan and Shin, was also an undead servant of some sort.

Additionally, we saw a different kind of reanimated corpse in The Clone Wars when a Geonosian queen used a parasitic brainworm to bring the dead to life and control them like puppets.

Zombie Stormtroopers in Star Wars

We have even seen zombie stormtroopers in Star Wars before, though they’re quite different from the ones in Ahsoka. The Legends novel Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber is specifically about zombie stormtroopers. In the story, set before the events of A New Hope, the stormtroopers become zombies in the more traditional fashion. A virus spreads through a ship, and those infected with it become flesh-craving zombies.

Does Thrawn Plan to Make an Army of Zombie Stormtroopers?

It’s possible that Ahsoka‘s small group of zombie stormtroopers was just the beginning of Thrawn’s undead attacks. As mentioned, we only saw a small group of night troopers become zombies. The Great Mothers’ power infused into them, enhancing their abilities. The zombie stormtroopers seem to be more resilient than Thrawn’s living night troopers.

At the end of Ahsoka, Thrawn is traveling straight to Dathomir, with the Great Mothers on board, and a cargo bay full of coffin-like objects, he could have plans for a massive zombie stormtrooper army. Thrawn, the Imperial Remnant, and a host of hard-to-kill stormtroopers mean trouble ahead for the New Republic.

Featured Image: Lucasfilm

The post AHSOKA Twisted Thrawn’s Night Troopers Into Zombie Stormtroopers appeared first on Nerdist.

There are many pluses to extending the Star Wars world with Disney+ shows. We get more time with our favorite characters, we get to learn more about the Star Wars lore that we’ve seen develop over the years, and we get to travel to new and exciting worlds. But one thing that Star Wars Disney+ shows have particularly excelled at is introducing cute new Star Wars creations into our lives. Just look at the impact of Grogu, a.k.a. Baby Yoda. Happily, Ahsoka has continued this tradition. First, Ahsoka brought us the live-action Loth-cat, which had us melting in our seats. And now, Ahsoka has brought two adorable new species into Star Wars canon, the howlers and the Noti. The howlers and the Noti not only added maximum cuteness to our screens, but they also played a part in Ahsoka‘s plot. Let’s take a look at these newly introduced denizens of the Star Wars world.

Sabine Wren’s Howler Tota Cannonizes the Star Wars Species in Ahsoka

At first, Sabine Wren’s mount on Peridea seemed like a dastardly dark side creature. But it turns out at least this howler, named Tota, was all bark and no bite. Although a bit of a coward, Tota loyally took to Sabine after an unfortunate encounter with bandits. And his sheepish but stubborn demeanor in recompense has probably won Star Wars fans over to the side of the howlers from here on out. Tota’s scenes with Sabine completely stole the show. Not to mention, whether or not the howler brought Sabine to the right place because he wanted water or because he could sense something more than that, he did help her to reunite with Ezra Bridger.

In the Ahsoka series, the howler species present as a reptilian wolf crossed with a horse. Interestingly, these live-action Star Wars howlers bring to mind mythology’s griffins. Although these two creatures aren’t one-to-one in their make-up, Ahsoka has been leaning into its mythological roots. So we enjoy the comparison.

But have howlers appeared in Star Wars before? This cute species has made a few prior appearances but not in canon Star Wars properties. Howlers first appeared in the Star Wars: Jedi Knight games, which belong to the Star Wars Legends world. In the games, howlers appeared much more reptilian, almost resembling dragons. These howlers lived on the moon Yavin 4. Although this implies that more than just purrgil have been able to cross Star Wars galaxies in canon, it does not confirm it. However, the appearance of howlers does continue Ahsoka‘s trend of incorporating Star Wars Legends material into canon. And, we, for one, are enjoying the adorable fruits of that convergence.

The Noti Kept Ezra Bridger Safe After Star Wars Rebels

The second species of absurdly cute aliens that Ahsoka introduced into the Star Wars world are the Noti. The Noti have not appeared before in any other Star Wars properties, but we hope to see more of them on Ahsoka. Although we don’t yet know the full story, it seems like the Noti adopted Ezra Bridger into their community after he became stranded on Peridea.

In Ahsoka, Tota the howler sniffs out a Noti and gives him a bit of a shock. But once calmed, the Noti recognizes Sabine Wren’s Rebellion symbol and reveals that he wears one as well. Suddenly, a whole crowd of Noti appear to excitedly chatter. It turns out they do know Ezra Bridger. The Noti take Sabine back to their village, and there she is finally reunited with Ezra for the first time since he disappeared at the end of Star Wars Rebels. We’re glad such cute creatures could facilitate this happy moment. Of course, the peace can’t last too long, and the Noti are caught up in the crossfire when General Thrawn’s troops show up. Happily, it doesn’t seem like anyone got too hurt in the conflict.

In Ahsoka, the Noti are adorable bug-like aliens. The Noti have rock-like shells on their back, which they can hide beneath at any sign of trouble. They seem to be a joyful and peaceable species. We even learn they do not really use any kind of weaponry. The closest the Noti have is a slingshot. And we love them for that.

Both the Noti and Sabine’s howler seem like great additions to the Star Wars universe. And given that Ahsoka and Sabine both ended up remaining behind on Peridea in the final episode of Ahsoka, there is a good chance we’ll see them again soon..

Originally published on September 20, 2023.

The post AHSOKA Introduced Your New Favorite Cute STAR WARS Aliens, Noti and Howlers appeared first on Nerdist.

Order 66 nearly wiped out the Jedi forever. Nearly 10,000 members of the Order died when Palpatine executed his monstrous plan. We know some survived long enough to see the Emperor’s fall, but those handful of Jedi are not who Ahsoka Tano turned to for help during the early days of the New Republic. Instead, Ahsoka called on a very old droid that knows as much about the ancient Order as anyone, Star Wars’ Huyang. Who is Huyang, and what makes him so invaluable to a galaxy in desperate need of lost Jedi knowledge? Here’s everything you need to know about Ahsoka‘s robot professor who helped generations of younglings build their lightsabers.

Who Is Star Wars: The Clone Wars‘ Professor Huyang

The Clone Wars animated series introduced a witty, smart, confident, very ancient robot with an important job. For a thousand generations, Star Wars‘ Professor Huyang, a Mark IV architect droid, guided younglings as they crafted their very own lightsabers.

Built roughly 25,000 years before Luke Skywalker blew up the first Death Star, by the time of the Clone Wars, Huyang operated out of the Jedi spaceship the Crucible. There, he would greet burgeoning Padawans who loved telling wild tales of the droid’s mysterious origins. Soon, they’d have their own tales to tell after partaking in the challenging Jedi trial known as the Gathering. That right of passage was how they acquired the kyber crystal that would power their lightsaber.

Huyang said a lightsaber is a “Jedi’s only true ally,” and he made sure every Youngling had one that suited them. After he accompanied them to the planet Ilum to find their crystal, he would then aide them on his ship in building their lightsaber. The lightsabers used by Yoda, Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan, Mace Windu, and countless other legendary Star Wars Jedi all traced back to Huyang.

While not a Jedi or Force-users, the droid’s job came with its own risks, too. During one trip with Ahsoka and a group of younglings, Weequay pirates attacked Huyang’s ship. The marauders attacked the professor and cut off both his head and arms. The youngsters managed to put him back together. In doing so, they saved more than just a lightsaber instructor. Huyang was a living memory of the Jedi Order. He retained the exact design and specifications of every lightsaber he ever helped build. (This was how Huyang identified Baylan Skoll as a former Jedi who disappeared at the end of the Clone Wars in Ahsoka.)

And as Lucasfilm says, Huyang’s databanks contain “a repository of ancient Jedi lore.” That record is more vital after Order 66.

Who Voiced Huyang on The Clone Wars? Who Is the Voice of Huyang on Ahsoka?

Doctor Who and Good Omens star David Tennant voiced Huyang on The Clone Wars. Tennant returned to the role for Ahsoka and also voices Huyang in his live-action form.

The 2022 Star Wars book Brotherhood actually referenced Tennant’s role as the Tenth Doctor by saying Huyang “was so old that the ancient droid supposedly arrived at the Jedi Temple in a big blue box thousands of years ago.” You can decide for yourself if that allusion to a TARDIS makes Star Wars‘ Huyang and the Doctor Who‘s Tenth Doctor the same character canonically.

What Is Huyang’s Role on Ahsoka?

Ahsoka revealed what happened to Huyang after the Jedi Order fell in the Star Wars universe. Huyang survived the destruction of the Jedi Order (though we don’t know how) and, ultimately, the Galactic Empire’s reign. At some point, the droid joined up with Ahsoka Tano. That was likely following Palpatine’s first death, since Huyang was there when Ahsoka took Sabine Wren on as her Padawan. That only happened after the Empire’s defeat. Huyang was also there when Sabine quit.

Huyang’s life is more like that of a regular droid assigned to a ship on Ahsoka. He flies for and with Ahsoka, helps her on missions, and offers analysis, guidance, and advice. In episode three of Ahsoka, Huyang scans Morgan Elsbeth’s Eye of Sion and identifies it as a hyperspace ring, combining the information with his knowledge of the Jedi archives to explain how intergalactic travel could be possible.

Huyang also remains headstrong and needs to be reined in, so he really is like every other Star Wars droid now. But he still serves the Jedi Order. He’s encouraged Sabine, despite her historically low aptitude for the Force, to resume her training. Huyang’s blunt assessment of her failed first attempt reminded Sabine why she finds Huyang “annoying,” but he said he’s merely “logical.”

Still, there is a softness to the droid. In Ahsoka, he reminds Sabine and Ahsoka that they should stay together because “they always did better that way” and appears to grieve when they, in fact, do not. It is clear Huyang cares very much about the duo. And Huyang has a great deal of trust and belief in them, especially in Ahsoka.

What Happens to Huyang at the end of Ahsoka?

Toward the end of the series, the droid heads out to galaxies unknown with the one-time Jedi in the mouth of a Purgill. And even though this is new territory, we see Huyang help Ezra to build a lightsaber in Ahsoka‘s finale, familiar ground for the droid. Although Huyang won’t say how old he is exactly, he does offer Ezra a hilt that was meant for his Jedi Master, Kanan Jarrus. Huyang shares that he taught Jarrus how to build his lightsaber, reminding us of his long Star Wars legacy and also evoking the current importance of the knowledge he shares. At the end of Ahsoka, Huyang remains with Ahsoka and Sabine, stranded in Peridea.

Regardless of what happens next, though, Huyang is right. The past is the past, and no one knows that more than the droid who carries the ancient past of the Jedi with him at all times. Just as Huyang was to generations of younglings, for Ahsoka, Sabine, and the galaxy far, far away, there’s no better droid to help a Jedi Knight build not just lightsabers but a better future.

Originally published on August 22, 2023.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. Also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

The post Who Is AHSOKA’s Droid Huyang? appeared first on Nerdist.

Ahsoka will bring some of Star Wars‘ greatest heroes to live-action. The galaxy far, far away is gonna need them, too. The Disney+ series will also mark the return of an iconic villain. But Grand Admiral Thrawn isn’t the only foe who will be looking to restore the Empire to power. Who will also join him in the fight to overthrow the New Republic? These are all the villains we expect to see on Ahsoka.

Grand Admiral Thrawn Will Be Ahsoka‘s Main Villain

The potential “Heir to the Empire” is one of Star Wars‘ most iconic and enduring villains, with a long history in both Star Wars Legends and Disney-era canon. The blue-skinned Chiss with piercing red eyes was among the highest ranking officers in the Galactic Empire. The smart, cunning, ruthless Thrawn was also the primary villain on Star Wars Rebels. His blockade of Lothal ended when Jedi Ezra Bridger called on purrgil to whisk both him and Thrawn into the Unknown Regions of deep space.

Ahsoka Tano will be on the hunt for the returning villain Thrawn when her Disney+ series debuts. Lars Mikkelsen, who voiced Thrawn on the animated series, will reprise the role in the character’s live-action debut.

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Grand Admiral Thrawn Is Star Wars’ Most Resilient Survivor

Ahsoka Finally Reveals Grand Admiral Thrawn

AHSOKA Twisted Thrawn’s Night Troopers Into Something More Powerful 

Morgan Elsbeth

The former Imperial official and skilled fighter played a major role in building the Empire’s naval fleet. After seeing her homeworld Corvus decimated during the Clone Wars she became a bitter, loyal, and dangerous servant of the Empire. She was ruthless in her plunder and destruction of other planet’s resources and their people.

Elsbeth made her Star Wars debut during The Mandalorian‘s second season on her home planet. Ahsoka Tano believed the tyrannical magistrate of Calodan knew the whereabouts of her “master” Thrawn, but Elsbeth seemingly didn’t reveal anything. Ahsoka trailers reveal the villainous Elsbeth is no longer imprisoned by the New Republic and working with two dangerous new Force-users. And we now know that Morgan Elsbeth is actually a Nightsister of Dathomir, making her an even deadlier foe. Diana Lee Inosanto will reprise the role as this villain on the Ahsoka series.

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Ahsoka‘s Morgan Elsbeth and the Nightsisters of Dathomir Are Critical to Star Wars‘ Story

Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati

The late Ray Stevenson‘s Baylan Skoll and his apparent apprentice, Ivanna Sakhno’s Shin Hati, have made their presence felt as villains in Ahsoka‘s trailers. But though the identity and goals of each character still remains a mystery, we know enough about both to be afraid of them. They are Force-users wielding orange lightsabers. In addition to all the New Republic figures they’re seen killing in promos, Skoll declared, “We are no Jedi.” He also made a reference to having once known Anakin Skywalker. That suggests he’s a former Jedi who fought in the Clone Wars and survived Order 66. If so, was he also an Inquisitor at one point?

Whatever the truth about the pair, we know the names of these Ahsoka villains are references to Norse mythology. Skoll and Hati are two wolves who chase the Sun and Moon in hopes of devouring them. They finally catch them during Ragnarok when the world ends. The names of these villains marks an ominous connection for the Ahsoka series, which has teased a return to the the World Between Worlds, a realm connected with Loth-wolves.

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Everything You Need to Know About Star Wars’ World Between Worlds

What Does Baylan Skoll Want on Ahsoka?

The Imperial Shadow Council

The Mandalorian‘s third season featured the Shadow Council. The group consists of former high-ranking Imperial officers who each oversee their own sector of the galaxy during the early days of the New Republic. While some members (now at eight total following the death of Moff Gideon) would prefer to use their resources to enrich themselves, the group’s primary goal is to restore the Empire and Palpatine himself to power. To stay under the radar and keep their true agenda hidden from the government, they make a concerted effort to avoid being seen working together, instead opting to make themselves look like individual black market warlords.

The Shadow Council’s two most notable members thus far are Commandant Brendol Hux and Captain Gilad Pellaeon. Brendol Hux is the father of the Star Wars sequel trilogy’s General Hux. Pellaeon previously served as the righthand man of Thrawn. While this group of villains has yet to appear in any trailers for Ahsoka, they seem likely to make their presence felt one way or another. They are awaiting Thrawn’s return so he can potentially take over leadership of the Shadow Council.

Marrok, the Former Inquisitor

Ahsoka will feature a previously unknown Inquisitor we now know is named Marrok. The group of Force users served as the personal Jedi bounty hunters of Darth Vader and Palpatine during the Galactic Empire. They have previously played big roles on Star Wars Rebels, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the Jedi: Fallen Order video game.

After initially keeping the character’s identity and alliances a secret, Lucasfilm has revealed Marrok “works as a mercenary hired by Morgan Elsbeth to carry out dark deeds” on Ahsoka. This Ahsoka villain still wears his Inquisitor battle armor and uses the group’s signature red double-bladed saber with a circular hilt. Considering Elsbeth’s work with Thrawn and Thrawn’s own past with Inquisitors, Marrok’s Imperial allegiances might run even deeper than most. However, theories abound about Marrok’s true identity. Could this Ahsoka villain actually be someone from Ahsoka‘s past, like Barriss Offee or even Ezra Bridger himself? It seems like, ultimately, Marrok may not be any notable figure at all, but merely a Nightbrother or Nightsister of Dathomir.

Paul Darnell is reportedly the man behind the black mask.

Read More

Ahsoka Reveals a Dark Secret About Marrok the Inquisitor and Morgan Elsbeth

The New Republic’s Inaction Will Be An Ahsoka Villain That Won’t Be Defeated

Not every villain on Ahsoka will work for the Empire. They won’t even all be people. The show will also provide a classic example of ManGalaxy-vs-Society, as Ahsoka Tano, Hera Syndulla, and everyone who sees the growing danger the New Republic faces will have to deal with the government’s refusal to address the rising tide of evil. We see it happen very clearly through the council appearance and Senator Xiono cameo in episode four of the series. It’s one enemy we know they won’t beat. Years later, the First Order will bring death and destruction to the galaxy far, far away.

Even the greatest heroes of Ahsoka won’t be able to save the New Republic from its own inaction, but they can help many people if they can stop Thrawn and all those who support him.

Read More

Ahsoka Proves the New Republic Deserved to Fail in The Force Awakens

Originally published on August 3, 2023.

The post Who Are All the Villains of AHSOKA? appeared first on Nerdist.

Sometimes, a character enters into a show, and it’s game over for all other characters. In Ahsoka‘s case, Sabine Wren’s Loth-cat totally stole everyone’s hearts. Even though the Star Wars series introduced other new adorable aliens, it was the Loth-cat that stayed with us. Sadly, Sabine’s pet didn’t get too much time to shine. We only saw our favorite Loth-cat for a few scenes in episodes one and two of Ahsoka. But even worse than that, we never learned what happened to our favorite creature after the rest of our heroes took off to galaxies unknown! The entire season fans were asking, is anyone watching Sabine’s Loth-cat? Is it okay? In the season finale of Ahsoka, we didn’t exactly get answers about the creature, but in a fashion, we learned the Loth-cat’s name and who is watching it. Plot twist, it’s you. We just hope the Star Wars universe remembers to bring the Loth-cat’s fate onto our screens sooner rather than later.

Sabine Wren’s Loth-cat Is Named Murley

In the Star Wars universe, Loth-cats came onto the scene in Star Wars Rebels. They’re a feline creature that’s native to the planet of Lothal. Star Wars’ official description shares that “while at times they can be friendly—and indeed, make affectionate pets when domesticated—Loth-cats are able hunters with sharp teeth and claws.” On Ahsoka, the first live-action appearance of a Loth-cat, we saw both aspects of the Star Wars species at play. Sabine’s Loth-cat was happy to snuggle and purr against her, but was the first to squawk at signs of trouble. And honestly, the Loth-cat crucially gave both Sabine Wren and Ahsoka an important heads-up when the enemy was near.

But one thing we did not get from Ahsoka, was the Loth-cat’s name. Happily, Star Wars‘ official accounts have arrived to fill in that blank for us. Sabine Wren’s Loth-cat is named Murley. There doesn’t seem to be any particular Star Wars Easter egg or reference embedded in the name, but we’ll take it.

Who Is Watching the Loth-cat During the Events of Ahsoka?

Although a Loth-cat can probably fend for itself to some degree, it shouldn’t have to! Over the course of Ahsoka‘s episodes, fans conveyed a great deal of worry about the fate of Sabine’s pet. We see Sabine feed the Loth-cat in Ahsoka‘s first episode, so Murely is probably used to food coming several times a day. Ultimately, Ahsoka never revisited the Loth-cat’s fate throughout the season, but we assume that Sabine asked someone to look after Murley at some juncture. Between Hera Syndulla and the people of Lothal, surely someone was around to check on the Loth-cat.

And, of course, Star Wars reminds us, there’s you. You have always been a part of the Rebellion and now you’re a part of the Loth-cat sitter’s club. Congratulations. To drive the point home, the official Star Wars team created a LoFi video of the snoozing creature. You can watch Murley dream happy dreams for 11 hours straight and content yourself with the thought that you are watching the Loth-cat. And that the creature is both safe and happy, phew.

Now that Ezra Bridger has returned to his home galaxy, he’ll probably also return to his home where Sabine Wren had been staying. We’d put a little money on the fact that he’ll discover a Loth-cat waiting for him when he enters into LothalNet comm tower E-272.

Ahsoka‘s Loth-cat Is an Animatronic, Just Like Grogu

For those who want to know more about how this cute creature came to life, Murley the Loth-cat is actually an animatronic from the Legacy Effects team. This very same team created Grogu. Before Murley’s Ahsoka debut, Loth-cats featured in The Mandalorian were purely CGI.

Natasha Liu Bordizzo, who plays Sabine Wren, shared with Empire earlier in the year, “That was my little buddy!… That cat, the complexity of the design… I mean, it has a real skeleton under there, because that’s how they control such intense facial expressions and everything.” The actress also added, “Move over, Grogu!”

Star Wars‘ complex animatronic puppets continue to wow us and melt our hearts. So much so that for seven weeks fans have been asking after the health of this animatronic. We honestly hope Grogu doesn’t end up moving over, but that these paid of adorable puppets one day get to meet in the galaxy, far, far away.

The post Who Is Watching Sabine Wren’s Loth-Cat (You) and What Happened to AHSOKA’s Cutest Creature? appeared first on Nerdist.

Kevin Kiner has essentially been Ahsoka Tano’s personal composer since the Jedi made her debut in 2008’s The Clone Wars film. He also scored both the movie’s spinoff series and Star Wars Rebels. Now, like Lady Tano herself, he’s made the move to the live-action side of the franchise as the lead composer for Ahsoka on Disney+. It’s not easy for any musician to fill John Williams’ shoes, but it’s not a job Kiner is doing alone. His son and daughter, Sean and Deana Kiner, are also composing with Kevin on the show.

What’s it like still working with Dave Filoni after these years? How has their past shaped the many hours of music the Kiners have made for the series? And how does Ahsoka‘s score live up to Star Wars‘ musical past? I spoke with all three composers about all that and more, starting with how working together influences the music they create.

Kevin Kiner: I’ve I told people the reason I feel I’m a better composer than I was 10 years ago—because I’ve been doing this for 40 years—is [Sean and Deana] now compose with me and they bring a fresh perspective to things. That is just absolutely key to why you’ll find so many interesting ideas on the Ahsoka soundtrack. I don’t believe I personally am solely capable of having that many interesting ideas in one project. I mean, basically we did five hours of music. That’s three feature films. To be able to have that much variety and that many good ideas, I think would be impossible.

Deana Kiner: We’re really proud of the diversity of soundscapes we created for this show. We think it goes from so many different kinds of spectrums and covers so much, and we’re really proud of the way that it connects emotionally to each scene.

Nerdist: Kevin, you’ve composed for many Star Wars cartoons and video games, but Ahsoka is your first foray into the live-action side of the franchise. Are there meaningful differences between scoring for animation versus live-action?

Kevin Kiner: That’s kind of a yes and no thing. Compositionally, it’s virtually identical when you sit down with an idea. An idea is an idea. And a Star Wars idea is a Star Wars idea. But the process of doing Ahsoka was much more like doing a feature film, in that we had a lot more time to really polish things. There was also more input from Dave Filoni, and we had time to go back and change things a lot more.

Also, a big part of it is we had a full orchestra at the Newman Scoring Stage at Fox (in Los Angeles) for every episode, for all the music. We had time to really get that right with the greatest musicians in the world. We do some orchestra on the other shows, but it’s not for every episode and it’s not for every cue. And usually it’s in Budapest or Prague, so this time there’s communication, as well as a skill level difference.

Sean Kiner: The biggest thing having a live orchestra every single episode is we started to build an understanding and relationship with the musicians’ abilities. They would come up to us after episode one’s recording session and they would talk about things that had excited them in the score. That made us really happy and want to write things for them. It very much felt like we were writing for specific people we knew and that was really nice.

You worked with Dave Filoni on both The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, as well as other things. How do your previous collaborations with him shape your experiences on Ahsoka?

Kevin Kiner: I’ve been working with Dave for maybe 16, 17 years, so it was incremental. We’ve developed a relationship over the years and have a kind of shorthand. We have had it for a very long time, where we will be listening to a piece of temporary music that the editors put in as we’re watching the scene. That music can be from Indiana Jones, Prometheus, or from whatever the picture editor found that has the right pace and flavor. And I’ll say, “Hey, I like those French horns right there.” Or Dave will say that, and literally if he says it, I will have been thinking, “Oh, I like that lick right there.” That’s really cool.

We have a really great connection. I have that connection with very few people I work with. It’s deep. I like to think of myself as a good film and television composer, and that I relate well with directors, but it is a step further with Dave by virtue of 17 years of working together. Seventeen years and we clicked right away. That’s the difference.

Deana Kiner: To what Kevin was saying, Dave Filoni is substantially musically literate. That’s pretty unusual for a lot of directors or showrunners we’ve worked with. That makes it really easy to talk about inspiration and influences going into a scene, and creatively what emotion, and what composer, even, he was thinking of for certain scenes. Like in episode six, when we see Ezra, we noticed it felt very Americana, very pastoral. And Dave was like, “Yes!” He honed in on that and ran with that idea, which was foundationally from Dave Filoni’s concept of knowing the kind of classical music that helped guide us.

Before I get into specific tracks, I want to know, of all the songs you’ve written for the show do you have a personal favorite?

Sean Kiner: Oh boy. Whoa.

Kevin Kiner: You’re stumping us.

Deana Kiner: I was just talking about it. My favorite piece was that moment we see Ezra for the first time in episode six. As soon as I walked into the studio and heard Kevin working on it, I was like, “Oh my God, this is great. Keep going with this.” I was so excited by what was happening, just hearing the rough sketches of it. I thought it was so inspired.

Kevin Kiner: My favorite piece is the end credits, because it has a fresh take on “Ahsoka’s Theme.” That was the first thing I wrote for George [Lucas] and Dave Filoni in 2006 or 2007. I remember where I was. I remember what the scene was, with a little girl Ahsoka sitting alone. It came very quickly to me. To have that now be stretched out, to have this variation that [Deana and Sean] came up with, which was this kind of Ronan motif—it starts off with the cellos, and then the variation of my melody, the full blown use of my melody, and then “Hera’s Theme” in there—for all those things it kind of encapsulates the end credits is my favorite.

Sean Kiner: Also, something like the song where the purrgil begin their trek started out as just something fun for the visuals. That was playing off the visuals and the end credits. Then it was like, “Oh no, this is a great traveling theme,” so we ended up using it for seeing their jump in hyperspace.

Deana Kiner: You can hear it when Sabine is unlocking the map in episode one. It started in the end credits, and we were so excited about its potential and felt like it really touched on the magic of the forest, the magic of what this show was grappling with, that we got so excited. We had to figure out a way to implement it in the show. It felt right when Sabine unlocks the map and sees how to get to Ezra.

Sean Kiner:  I don’t know if I could pick a favorite, but just keeping it to the first four episodes the “New Republic Song” was really nice to explore. There’s a kind of positivity, but we hide a little bit of darkness. We know that the New Republic is kind of doomed and you already see the seeds of its own destruction a little bit in Ahsoka.

Also “Should Have Been a Good Jedi” is really nice, when Ahsoka and Sabine first reunite after their long estrangement. That’s got a lot of things. Sabine’s going back into the ship and seeing the old drawings she did on her bunk. It’s got a little bit of the “Thrawn Theme” hidden. There’s a lot of good things in there.

I want to talk specifically about including the end credits theme song, which I absolutely love. What kind of directive, if any, did you get before writing it and how did that guidance shape the direction you went in?

Kevin Kiner: That was interesting because there were a lot of end credits (songs) at first. The concept was going to be a different end credits track for every episode, just like there’s a different main title for every episode.

Sean Kiner: The current end credits has pieces of all five of those, as well as new connective tissue and things. But the end credits started half the length of what they ended up being. We got to continue to add more and more to it as it gotten longer. It’s almost four minutes now. It’s a conglomeration of all the ideas that we experimented with in the first five songs.

Deana Kiner: Technically speaking, it’s certainly what we spent the most time on creating show.

Kevin Kiner: It’s so cool because we got to pick the best of those different iterations and put them in the end credits. We spent a lot of time on it and it evolved really nicely.

Thrawn got the kind of epic reintroduction viewers would expect for the Grand Admiral. How did you approach scoring that moment?

Deana Kiner: Initially we had “Thrawn’s Theme.” It’s based in the organ. It’s got these arpeggiations and counterpoints going and building. So initially we said, “Oh, it’s on. We have to use ‘Thrawn’s Theme.’”

Kevin Kiner: It has to be on organ. It’s got to be, “Organ, organ, organ, ‘Thrawn’s theme.’”

Deana Kiner: We were so single-minded about that, trying to reiterate that and develop it for the new setting for the new state that he’s in, that we kind of lost track of what the scene was doing. When we brought it to Dave, he said, “We need to kind of reassess. You made a great piece of music…”

Sean Kiner: Which will end up on the second volume. (laughs)

Deana Kiner: …But Dave was like, “This isn’t right for this moment. I love his theme and I think it’s great, but we need to play this moment. It is different. We need to be playing the reactions, the feeling of him arriving.” So we realized we needed to add tons of weight. We drew it out, we extended it and stretched the melody out and distorted the organ. We added new elements that made it more atmospheric and made the presence of him arriving more oppressive.

Kevin Kiner: Super heavy. Super heavy and oppressive. I think because we are soundtrack geeks, obviously, we were making it about the music. We’re like, “The fans are going to lose their shit when they hear this music.” No, the fans are going to lose their shit when they see Thrawn! That’s what it’s about. It’s not about us. It’s not about the music. The music will be great, and it’ll add, and it’ll be a cool element, but it’s not a music video. We had to play the scene better.

There’s a great example of how we had time to evolve things, and that’s how this is much more like a feature film where you have time to do that. To go back to the drawing board, to take the nuggets that are good about something and then expound upon it. That doesn’t get to happen in the frenetic schedule of an episodic animated series.

I’m obsessed with the song Sabine listens to while she’s driving her speeder in episode one. What was the key to creating rock music that still sounds like it belongs in the galaxy far, far away?

Deana Kiner: One key was definitely working with Sarah Tudzin from Illuminati Hotties, who I’m lucky to call a good friend and have played with on tour. We watched the scene with Dave and it’s got a legendary piece of (temp) music, and we’re just like, “What are we supposed to do? This is a perfect motorcycle song. What are we supposed to do?”

We came back to it terrified of having to accomplish that crazy task. The conclusion we came to was we needed to match Sabine’s energy and see where she’s at, who she is as a person. She’s rebellious, she’s a punk, she’s an artist. So the first person that came to mind was Sarah Tudzin.

Kevin Kiner: You just said it, punk and rock and rebellious attitude. Heavy guitars, heavy drums, and yet, a foreign language. It’s based on Filipino words. My wife is Filipino.

Deana Kiner: It’s loosely Tagalog influence. It was a really great collaboration because of all the different voices that started injecting themselves into the piece. I think what makes it so Star Wars is that rebellious nature.

Sean Kiner: Not to mention we got to collaborate with Ludwig Göransson ]composer for The Mandalorian and the Book of Boba Fett] on it. That was very exciting. He’s such a good guy.

Kevin Kiner: Without getting into specifics, because it’s a little too technical, he added in something very cool from Sabine’s music. We didn’t even do that. He was like, “Hey, guys, it’s a cool theme, we should put that in.” I’m like, ”Oh, yeah, duh.” (laughs)

Like most people watching the show, I’m not a musician, let alone a composer. So what have I not asked you about that you would really like viewers to know about the score?

Sean Kiner: Star Wars is so dramatic, but you can’t be constantly bashing people over the head with melodies, so we put a lot of thought into being thematic throughout the show. We will hide little nods to different things throughout the soundtrack.

Kevin Kiner: Lately I’ve been listening to the score a lot for the Volume 1 release, almost two and a half hours of music. What is really cool is when you listen to the soundtrack you can picture the scene it was written for and it brings back the memory. “This is when they did that. This is when the assassin droid shows up. That moment is when Ahsoka first drops into that temple.” All those thing bring you back. I’m super proud of that because that’s what I experienced when I listened to the soundtrack of A New Hope or The Empire Strikes Back. It’s like, ”Here comes Darth Vader, or the twin suns.”

Deana Kiner: You can hear the story and the music.

Kevin Kiner: Yeah, the music tells the story. It was a big job. And not all soundtracks do that because sometimes specifically they don’t want to do that. John Williams writes extremely expressive and dense music, and not all soundtracks do that. But this is the DNA of Star Wars and we’re sticking with that.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on  Twitter and  Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

The post AHSOKA Composers Kevin, Sean, and Deana Kiner on the Show’s Score, Favorite Tracks, and STAR WARS’ Musical Legacy appeared first on Nerdist.

Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth’s introduction on The Mandalorian established her as a relevant character, but not an especially interesting one. The series revealed she’d been a close ally of Grand Admiral Thrawn and possibly knew how to find him. Only, the galaxy is full of Imperial loyalists who matter only because of their proximity to important figures. Now Ahsoka has turned an unremarkable, evil bureaucrat into one of the franchise’s most fascinating and intriguing villains. Morgan Elsbeth is not just any Empire sympathizer; she is a witch from a magical race that played an important role in the franchise’s past, one thought all but extinct years ago. Morgan Elsbeth is one of Star Wars‘ few remaining Nightsisters of Dathomir.

That makes her a powerful enemy of both the New Republic and the Jedi Order she blames for her coven’s demise. But who are Star Wars‘ Nightsisters of Dathomir, and how exactly does Morgan Elsbeth connect to them? Here’s everything we knew about that infamous clan before Ahsoka and everything new the show has revealed about those Force-using magic wielders.

Who Are the Nightsisters of Dathomir in the Star Wars Universe?

Dathomir is a remote, strange planet in the Outer Rims. Its nearby star covers the misty world in an unsettling dark red light. The world also features many swamps and weird vegetation, including forests of twisted, bent trees. Dathomir is also the native planet to lots of large, terrifying insects and creatures, like rancors. It’s also the home of a legendary Sith Lord, Darth Maul.

Maul was a member of the Nightbrothers, Zabrak warriors subservient to their female counterparts, the Nightsisters of Dathomir. That powerful, ancient matriarchal ruling coven of Force-using witches—capable of incredible spells, curses, possessing others, and more—controlled the planet and their brothers with dark magic. The Nightsisters’ magic manifests in swirling green light, as seen in Ahsoka‘s second episode when Morgan Elsbeth elevated the star map.

Where Did the Nightsisters of Dathomir Learn How to Use Magic?

Dathomir itself has a strong dark side presence in the Star Wars universe, which the Nightsisters used as the source of their magic. The planet also produced many dark side users. But the Nightsisters kept their world neutral from outside politics and galactic matters. The Jedi let the Nightsisters govern themselves and generally stayed out of Dathomir’s business. That worked both ways, as denizens of the planet rarely left their strange world and rarely allowed anyone to visit.

Before Ahsoka it seemed as though the Nightsisters possibly owed their existence to the Jedi. Roughly six centuries before Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, an exiled Jedi warrior trained the Nightsisters in the ways of the Force. Legend says those who studied with her were the very first Nightsisters of Dathomir. Ahsoka has raised questions about this story. Was it a tall tale? Or did that Jedi Knight help them rediscover their lost magic? We don’t know, but in the end it was a former Jedi who destroyed them in the galaxy far, far away.

Why Happened to the Nightsisters During the Clone Wars?

The Nightsisters stayed neutral during the Clone Wars, even though they had a recent history with Darth Sidious. The Sith Lord had traded dark side secrets with the Nightsisters, though they themselves were not Sith. Their leader, Mother Talzin, let Sidious take her son Maul on as an apprentice in exchange.

The coven still remained neutral when one of their own, Asajj Ventress, became Count Dooku’s apprentice. But when Sidious, fearful of Ventress’ growing power, ordered Dooku to kill her, she returned to her home world. The Nightsisters accepted her back and swore vengeance on Dooku. To get close to the covert Sith Lord, they sent him a new apprentice secretly loyal to them. That double agent was Maul’s fellow Nightbrother, Savage Opress.

In the end, though, it was Dooku who killed the Nightsisters. After their assassination attempts against him failed, Dooku ordered General Grievous to wipe the witches out. They held off the attack initially with the help of their resurrected zombie army of the dead, in a truly creepy display of their dark powers. But only a handful of witches survived the massacre.

The clan—including Mother Talzin, who had helped restore Darth Maul’s body and mind, turned Savage into a powerful killing machine, and died in a later encounter with Dooku—nearly returned from beyond the grave via their dark magic during the Clone Wars. However, despite their incredible abilities even in death, ultimately the Star Wars‘ Nightsisters all but disappeared from the galaxy far, far away.

At least one Nightsister did serve as an Inquisitor. Her fate after the Empire’s collapse is unknown. (That’s worth keeping in mind since we have yet to learn the real identity of Ahsoka‘s Inquisitor who served Morgan Elsbeth, herself one of the few surviving Nightsisters.)

What Did Ahsoka Reveal About Morgan Elsbeth’s Work for the Empire?

Prior to Ahsoka, we knew Morgan Elsbeth had been a major Imperial official who helped build the Empire’s fleet. Her mysterious past also hinted at lasting anger and resentment over the destruction of her planet.

Now we know she controlled a major Imperial port on Corellia, homeworld of Han Solo. The New Republic converted the operation to serve its needs, but Elsbeth’s former employees who’d been kept on to keep the port functioning were secretly loyal Imperialists, some out of sincere belief, others out of greed.

On Coredllia, those Imperialists also amassed gigantic hyperdrive cores for Elsbeth to use in her massive Eye of Scion, an enormous a hyperspace transport ring. Those machines allows X-Wings to travel through hyperspace. She needed all that firepower to travel deep across the universe on the Pathway to Peridea, an ancient planet in a spiral-shaped galaxy far, far away. It’s where she believed Thrawn was. Morgan Elsbeth seemed to know that because of an ancient map the Nightsisters created long ago. But Ahsoka revealed she also had help from her own sisters.

What Was the Map Morgan Elsbeth Used to Locate Thrawn, and How Did It Relate to the Nightsisters?

When Ahsoka Tano captured Morgan Elsbeth she used non-Jedi methods to get information out of her prisoner, who otherwise would not have betrayed Thrawn. That led Ahsoka to an ancient temple on Arcana built by the Nightsisters of Dathomir. (Which we later learned was adorned with images of the Nightsisters’ Great Mothers.) There Ahsoka found an encoded star map that Sabine Wren ultimately unlocked.

Morgan Elsbeth didn’t actually know where Thrawn was when Ahsoka captured her in The Mandalorian. She didn’t even know how to find that map among the ruins on Arcana. What Nightsister Morgan Elsbeth did know, thanks to her magical connection with the Force and her far away brethren, is that it would point the way to Thrawn, who had called out to her from across space and time.

Morgan Elsbeth explained what the map meant to her Force-user mercenaries, Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati. They’d met at the reflex point on the planet Seatos where the map showed them a path created by “an ancient people from a distant galaxy.”

Baylan called it the “Pathway to Peridea,” a seemingly mythological place. But Peridea was more than just a story told by the Children of the Jedi Temple. As Morgan Elsbeth had said, it was a tale “based on truth,” and she used the Eye of Scion to go there and find Thrawn.

That’s also where Morgan Elsbeth also found the original home of Star Wars‘ Nightsisters.

Who Are the Great Mothers on Ahsoka?

Ahsoka revealed the Nightsisters’ history goes back much farther in the Star Wars timeline than we ever knew—as does their importance. Tens of thousands of years before they called Dathomir home, the Nightsisters resided on Peridea, their native planet in a distant galaxy. They had traveled to Star Wars’ galaxy thanks to “the travelers,” their term for Purrgil. This timeline seems to place their arrival around the same time as the Jedi founding.

Not all made the move, though. Morgan Elsbeth met three Great Mothers on Peridea in Ahsoka‘s sixth episode. They had come to serve Thrawn, a man with nary the power they have. The Great Mothers had helped Thrawn call out to Lady Morgan. And their visions of the future had also helped both Elsbeth and Thrawn plan his Star Wars return. The trio also knew Ahsoka Tano was on her way. However, they did not foresee every “strand” of fate, as the Great Mothers did not anticipate Sabine Wren’s arrival on the Eye of Sion. As powerful as they are, the Great Mothers have blind spots. They also know fear.

Why Are the Great Mothers Fleeing Peridea with Their Dead in Ahsoka?

Baylan Skoll says there is a power on Peridea so incredible the Great Mothers themselves fear it. They’re certainly acting that way. Whatever it is that calls out to the former Jedi in this Star Wars series, the Great Mothers aren’t answering. Instead, they are working for Thrawn to not only get him off the planet, they are going with him and taking all their dead Nightsisters with them.

Why do the Great Mothers want to leave their ancient home on Ahsoka? Why are witches powerful enough to resurrect the dead so worried about taking their deceased with them? And what does this mean for the clan’s future in Star Wars? What about Morgan Elsbeth’s potential role in the coming First Order? She thinks fate and Thrawn guarantee a resurrection of the Empire she never gave up on.

If she were any other Imperial loyalist, we might doubt her. But The Clone Wars fans know to never underestimate a powerful, angry Nightsisters with a purpose, which is especially true for Morgan Elsbeth and the Great Mothers who still prowl the universe. They are more than Thrawn’s trusted allies. They are witches who hate the Jedi. Thanks to Ahsoka, the Nightsisters are once again among Star Wars‘ most dangerous—and most interesting—groups.

This post originally published on August 22, 2023.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. Also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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The Mandalorian‘s season three premiere was a whale of a time. Specifically it was a space whale of a time. The episode marked the live-action debut of purrgil, an important Star Wars creature first introduced in animation on Rebels. They returned in all their enormous glory during Ahsoka‘s third episode, and later on the show helped Lady Tano and Huyang go after Morgan Elsbeth on a distant planet.

Who are these giant, beautiful creatures? What makes them such a vital part of the franchise? And what is their connection with both the Force and the ancient history of the galaxy far, far away? Here’s everything we know about Star Wars‘ giant star whales, the purrgil, and what they mean to some legendary Jedi.

What Are Star Wars Giant Space Whales, the Purrgil?

In the Star Wars universe, purrgil are semi-sentient, large-headed animals who most closely resemble whales, but with some notable differences. Living in deep space, they have one cloudy blue eye on each side of their head. They also have four tentacles at the end of their long blue and purple bodies which also glow in certain parts. Purrgil also sport fins that help them fly, and some even have long whiskers.

Despite their atypical habitat, the elegant creatures with oval-like teeth still require a specific, rare green gas to breathe. Without Clouzon-36, which they can locate on planets and moons, their bodies begin to turn brown and gray. But with Clouzon-36 (the same gas used as hyperdrive fuel), Star Wars‘ purgill are able to “travel great distances” among the stars. 

The graceful but imposing creatures fly together in groups known as pods, flocks, or swarms. Before Ahsoka showed much bigger pods, they were though to be as large as 12 members.

The leader of a swarm is known as a King Purrgil. Most space whales are the size of small ships, but a type known as Purrgil Ultra can grow far, far bigger. Those majestic behemoths can reach the equivalent in length of half an Imperial-class Star Destroyer. Based on their relative size to Din Djarin’s N-1 Starfighter in The Mandalorian, Grogu likely spotted Purrgil Ultras flying through hyperspace in their very own simu-tunnel. Purrgil are not only capable of traveling at hyper speeds, though. They’re said to have actually inspired humanoids own hyperspace aspirations.

Why Are Purrgil Both Hated and Revered in the Star Wars World?

Purrgil are no strangers to the smugglers, pirates, pilots, and other travelers of the galaxy far, far away. Hera Syndulla once called the animals “dangerous” because of their proclivity to wander into hyperspace lanes. Many in the galaxy far, far away have lost their lives in crashes with purrgil. But it’s unlikely the space whales meant cause those incidents even though they have a type of intelligence unto themselves. Purrgil are not immune to injury and would not intentionally crash into anyone.

Regardless of intent, pilots hunted down and killed many of the animals to make high-speed interstellar travel safer.

Yet some think the entire galaxy owes a debt to Star Wars‘ purrgil. Some believe the creatures’ natural ability to travel through hyperspace served as a guide for sentient races to learn the ways of moving faster than the speed of light. Without purrgil, travel between star systems might still be impossible in the galaxy. It’s why some of the first hyperspace ships created in the Star Wars‘ universe were named for purrgil. Their simu-tunnels were precursors to the very hyperspace lanes they wander into.

The study of purrgil brains and bodies even led both Jedi and Sith alike to create wayfinders. Those ancient relics, which proved so important in The Rise of Skywalker, allowed Force users to navigate especially difficult expanses of space.

Where Have Purrgil Appeared in Star Wars Before?

Though mentioned in some Star Wars publishing, prior to Ahsoka most purrgil appearances primarily happened on Star Wars Rebels. The mystical space whales made a big impression during their debut on the animated series, too. Despite Hera’s fears about the creatures, Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger and Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus persuaded the crew of the Ghost to follow purrgil. During an ensuing battle at a Clouzon-36 gas refinery under Imperial control, a purrgil saved Ezra’s life. He then saw a vision in the animal’s eye, forming a strong magical connection between the two. Ezra then rode the purrgil as it helped the Ghost take the much-needed gas.

While the otherwise serene purrgil appeared on the show multiple times, their most important moment came in the series’ finale during the Ghost crew’s greatest time of need.

How Did Purrgil Help Ezra Bridger Stop Grand Admiral Thrawn?

Star Wars Rebels ended with the denizens of Lothal trying to free the planet from the Empire’s grip. Without a fleet of its own to match the one Grand Admiral Thrawn commanded, Ezra Bridger and his friends needed help.

For that, Ezra turned to the purrgil, which he summoned to fight back against Thrawn in a surprise attack. The Star Wars space whales worked with the Rebel forces to destroy many of the Imperial ships serving as a blockade.

But with Thrawn around, Lothal would never have been safe. That led Ezra Bridger to concoct a secret plan to sacrifice himself, saving his friends and his planet. He used the Force to make three purrgil Ultra attack Thrawn and his ship.

The purrgil took hold of the Grand Admiral and jumped into hyperspace, taking both Thrawn and Ezra with them to an unknown region of the Star Wars universe.

In Star Wars Rebels‘ final scene Sabine Wren and Ahsoka Tano set out to find Ezra, whose whereabouts still remained unknown at the start of Ahsoka. The live-action series then revealed just how far away the creatures had taken Thrawn and Ezra.

What Was the Significance of Purrgil Appearing on The Mandalorian?

There were two likely reasons purrgil made their live-action debut on The Mandalorian in such a quick manner, and they are not mutually exclusive. The first is that the purrgil offered a way to establish yet another connection between the show, Star Wars Rebels, and Ahsoka. When Rosario Dawson first brought Ahsoka Tano to live-action on The Mandalorian, she was seeking information about the location of Thrawn. She had not given up hope of finding her friend Ezra, either. Dawson’s former Jedi and her Padawan Sabine resumed their hunt for both the Grand Admiral and Ezra on Ahsoka.

Lucasfilm is not shy about having their Star Wars shows’ plots overlap in significant ways, and the dual appearances of purrgil in live-action certainly accomplished that.

But the sight of purrgil might ultimately prove important to The Mandalorian‘s little green star. We know from Ezra Bridger’s experiences with those magical animals that they have a special connection with Force users. And since they’re rarely spotted traveling at hyperspeed, it’s significant a powerful little Jedi saw them flying alongside him. Purrgil might one day prove to be as significant in Grogu’s life as they were in Ezra’s.

They’ve proven to be that important in Ahsoka’s.

What Did Ahsoka Reveal About the Importance of Purrgil in the Galaxy’s Ancient Past?

Before Ahsoka most of the biggest questions about purrgil had to do with their potential future in Star Wars. Will Grogu eventually meet them and become friends with the space whales? Will they bring Ezra Bridger back to his home galaxy so he can meet other surviving Jedi? Might those beautiful tentacled beings who travel among the stars fight alongside Grogu and save Mandalore the way they saved Lothal? Could they help stop Thrawn once more?

But while seeing purrgil for just a brief moment on The Mandalorian raised countless possibilities for what role they might still play in Star Wars, their role on Ahsoka gave us reason to look back at the role the space whales played long ago. Huyang revealed the Jedi Archives contain record of old intergalactic hyperspace lanes. The galaxy far, far away once had established space roads to entirely different galaxies, including the Pathway to Peridea. And those hyperspace lanes, whose existence changes everything we know about the galaxy far, far away, were based on the natural migration paths of purrgil.

Not only did those Force-sensitive explorers inspire hyperspace travel, they once connected distant galaxies throughout the universe. Those lost galaxies contain secrets about Star Wars‘ past that not even the Jedi know about. That involves how “the travelers” helped the Nightsisters leave their native world of Peridea and travel across the universe to Star Wars‘ galaxy far, far away.

That important planet is also where purrgil go to die. Peridea’s low orbit area is a graveyard littered with the star whales’ bones. Is that because purrgil return to their home to die? Or did they chose that ancient wasteland as their final resting place for another reason? Every new piece of information about the lives of purrgil raises new questions, some of which we might never get answers to.

Ahsoka did confirm something about them we learned during their first appearance on Star Wars Rebels is still true. It’s the reason purrgil can be a Jedi’s greatest ally.

How Did Ahsoka Make a Connection with Purrgil?

Ahsoka‘s fifth episode saw Anakin Skywalker give his former Padawan her final lesson. That trip through her past trauma helped Ahsoka lift the shadow over her heart, and when she emerged from the World Between Worlds Ahsoka she was able to do something we’d only seen Ezra Bridger do before. She used the Force to make a strong spiritual connection with a Purrgil Ultra who agreed to take Ahsoka, Huyang, and their ship into deep, unknown hyperspace in across galaxies. The purrgil made it possible for Ahsoka Tano to go after Sabine Wren and the Eye of Sion. Without the creatures who saved Lothal, Ahsoka never would have found Ezra Bridger, either.

The purrgil fled Peridea after leaving hyperspace to find an Imperial minefield waiting for them in Ahsoka. Where did they go? Are they on to yet another distant galaxy we don’t know about? Will the purgill return on Ahsoka to bring their Jedi friends back to their home galaxy? Or has their time on the show come to an end?

We don’t know yet, but we do know purrgil are even more important to Star Wars’ story—its past, present, and future—than we ever could have imagined when they first took to the sky on Rebels.

This post originally published on March 1, 2023.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter at  @burgermike, and also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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One of the best parts of Star Wars: Ahsoka so far has been seeing the sheer amount of love for past animated Star Wars projects like The Clone Wars and Rebels. The flashback in episode five featuring a teenage Ahsoka (Ariana Greenblatt) and her mentor Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) during the Clone Wars sent fans into the stratosphere. Seeing Clone Wars-era Anakin as a hologram in episode seven just fueled the demand even more. Many fans created some incredible fan art. Some are even calling for a full live-action “remake” of The Clone Wars series, which, in our opinion, is totally unnecessary. However, flashbacks to the Clone Wars would solve a big problem: how to crack Obi-Wan Kenobi season two. A second season is not in the works as far as we know. However, if it was, the Clone Wars is right there.

Season 2 of Obi-Wan Kenobi Should Be a Flashback Clone Wars Adventure

The first season of Obi-Wan Kenobi saw the long-awaited rematch of Obi-Wan and Darth Vader. Set 10 years after Revenge of Sith, and nine before A New Hope, it reunited actors Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen after 17 years. And based on comments made by both actors since, they are itching to do it all again. But how? Another rematch between Ben and Vader would cheapen their final showdown in A New Hope. So why not do a season of Obi-Wan Kenobi that, at least primarily, takes place during the events of the Clone Wars?

A flashback season would allow McGregor and Christensen to act together as more than adversaries. We only really saw them as friends and allies in live-action in the first half of Revenge of the Sith. In Attack of the Clones, their Master and Padawan relationship was much more prickly.

Of course, if it’s Obi-Wan Kenobi season two, then the story would have to center on Obi-Wan. But there could easily have been an adventure we didn’t know about during the Clone Wars that was formative to Obi-Wan. Depending on when the episodes were set, we could also possibly get a live-action version of Obi-Wan’s great love, the Duchess Satine Kryze. There’s a tremendous opportunity there to get Ewan McGregor to explore a part of Obi-Wan that he never got a chance to in live-action—the romantic hero.

Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 2 Could Have a Post-Season 1 Framing Device

There could even be an opportunity to make the series a sort of sequel to the first season of Obi-Wan Kenobi. We think it would really push it to have Obi-Wan leave Tatooine during exile again for another adventure. However, it would be interesting if adult Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) came to him. It’s never been confirmed, either on Ahsoka or Star Wars Rebels, if Ahsoka ever found out Obi-Wan Kenobi was still alive. While he wasn’t her master, the two were friends. And her ally in the early rebellion, Bail Organa, does know where Obi-Wan is. Bail might have cause to tell her, forcing her to seek him out. An Ahsoka and Obi-Wan reunion set before the time of Rebels could be a framing device for an excellent flashback tale.

Of course, such a season could scratch a lot of Star Wars fan’s “pie in the sky” wants off the list. We could see a live-action Asajj Ventress at last. Samuel L. Jackson has long wanted to play Mace Windu again, and has been pretty public about it. This could allow for it in a way that doesn’t undo his death scene in Revenge of the Sith. Heck, why not throw in Master Yoda as well? The list of prequel-era characters served better by The Clone Wars animated series is long.

Of course, the biggest obstacle would be the sheer amount of digital de-aging. And Star Wars has a spotty track record with this. But if they can figure out a way to make it happen and look decent enough? We think fans would overlook some imperfections here and there. In the end, it’s really all about getting the characters together. And in that respect, we think Obi-Wan Kenobi season two can deliver in a way that would make Star Wars fandom jump with joy.

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Ahsoka’s third episode marked the franchise’s first-ever live-action appearance of an original Star Wars Resistance character, Senator Hamato Xiono. Senator Xiono (played by Nelson Lee) debuted on the sequel trilogy-era animated series via hologram. He’s the father of Star Wars Resistance‘s main character and hero, Kazuda Xiono. Senator Xiono’s tense meeting with General Hera Syndulla on Ahsoka wasn’t just a fun crossover, though. It showed how Xiono’s refusal to take Hera’s warnings seriously will one day lead to his home world’s destruction in The Force Awakens. And Ahsoka further underscored this point by having Xiono appear again in its seventh episode, bringing with him much the same foolishness. Let’s dive into Senator Xiono’s role in Ahsoka, his Star Wars history, and his ultimately tragic story.

Who Is Ahsoka‘s Senator Xiono?

New Republic Senator Hamato Xiono represented Hosnian Prime, a major Core Worlds planet. Ahsoka revealed the wealthy, well-connected, regal politician also held an even higher position in the fledgling government. Senator Xiono was part of a small group of influential Senators who worked as both advisors and decision-makers alongside Star Wars‘ Chancellor Mon Mothma during the New Republic’s early years.

Ahsoka carefully notes that Xiono attained his spot in Mothma’s inner circle despite not having fought against the Empire during the Galactic Civil War. Hera Syndulla accused him of sitting out the conflict to see who won, but it’s not clear why Senator Xiono didn’t rebel against Palpatine. Hosnian Prime was close to Coruscant, the seat of the Emperor’s power. It might have been all but impossible for Hosnian Prime to rise up without causing its own destruction.

That danger might explain Senator Xiono’s past inaction in the Star Wars world, which would have seemed prudent to him once the Empire collapsed. It clearly did not prevent his people from electing him to serve as Hosnian Prime’s Senator for decades. But it did prove a harbinger of how Xiono would serve his New Republic.

When Did Senator Hamato Xiono Make His Star Wars Debut?

Senator Xiono first appeared in the Star Wars universe on the animated series Star Wars Resistance, which took place 25 years after Ahsoka. Xiono (voiced by Tzi Ma) originally appeared via a scrambled hologram during the show’s first season. While we couldn’t see his face during that call, we could hear him scolding his son for working with the “extremist” Resistance group. Senator Xiono had previously secured a position for his son in the New Republic Defense Force Academy. That resulted in Kazuda joining the government’s Starfighter Corps.

Star Wars Resistance made it clear that Senator Xiono wanted his son to serve the New Republic, which he hoped to keep out of a war with the First Order. Only war—and worse—would ultimately find Senator Xiono in Star Wars‘ world.

What Happened to Hosnian Prime in The Force Awakens?

Senator Hamato Xiono’s Hosnian Prime was so important in Star Wars, it ultimately became the capital of the New Republic. It was also part of the rotation of planets that temporarily hosted the Galactic Senate. All of which made it a primary target of the First Order. The fascist group took aim at Hosnian Prime and four other planets in the Hosnian System when it used Starkiller Base. That fatal blast, seen across the galaxy, destroyed all five planets along with the New Republic’s Fleet that had been based on Hosnian Prime.

Hamato Xiono and his family only survived because they’d been off-world during the attack. And yet, despite the annihilation of his planet and his people, mirroring the moment in Ahsoka, Xiono still could not bring himself to fight. When he contacted his son to let him know he was alive, Xiono implored his son to run rather than fight with Star Wars‘ Resistance. He even blamed Kazuda for making his family a target.

Ahsoka Reveals The Tragedy of Senator Xiono’s Own Failures

Now, thanks to Ahsoka, we know Senator Xiono’s failures were not just limited to later in life. Nor was his cowardly response to Hosnian Prime’s destruction a single dereliction of duty. He was never capable of doing the job the galaxy and his people needed him to do when it needed Xiono most. He always failed to see the danger posed by Imperial loyalists and the First Order that sprung from them. The Senator was so desperate to avoid war that he helped usher in its arrival.

In Ahsoka‘s seventh episode, Senator Xiono recounts Hera’s story of Morgan Elsbeth, Seatos, and Ahsoka as if it is a fairy tale and accuses Hera of acting selfishly. Xiono refuses to even consider that General Thrawn could return. Xiono even seeks to rid Hera of her command, but luckily Leia interferes via a well-timed interjection from C-3PO.

If Senator Xiono had taken General Syndulla’s warnings seriously during the time of Ahsoka, he might have saved his home and millions of lives. If he hadn’t been so intent on punishing Hera for trying to disrupt his presumed peace, maybe he could have helped ushered in a different fate. Instead, he helped ensure its destruction and an era of death in the galaxy far, far away. It’s a sad end for a Senator who could never recognize what so many others desperately tried to make him see.

Originally published on August 30, 2023.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on  Twitter and  Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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“What I seek is the beginning, so I may finally bring this cycle to an end.”

Ahsoka‘s Baylan Skoll isn’t interested in ruling like Thrawn. The former Jedi Knight has a far more ambitious goal, one that will free the galaxy from war between Jedi and Sith. He believes the power he needs to achieve his plan can be found Peridea, but what exactly is “the beginning” he seeks on that ancient wasteland? If the old fairytales are true, Baylan Skoll might be looking for the very source of the Force itself. Here’s everything we know about who Baylan Skoll is, his role as an Ahsoka antagonist, and his place in the greater Star Wars universe.

Who Was Baylan Skoll Before Ahsoka?

Before Ahsoka, Baylan Skoll was a young Jedi Knight and General in the Clone Wars. He was roughly the same age as Anakin Skywalker during the galactic conflict.

Somehow Baylan Skoll not only survived Order 66, he learned what became of Anakin. Few people ever discovered Anakin Skywalker was Darth Vader. Knowing what became of the most famous Jedi and Anakin’s role in destroying the Order changed Baylan Skoll’s entire outlook on life.

Why Did Anakin Skywalker Cause Baylan Skoll to Lose His Faith?

Baylan Skoll lost his “faith” in the Jedi. Their failures during the Clone Wars, combined with Anakin’s role in causing so much horror, destroyed Baylan’s entire belief system. Baylan Skoll still misses “the idea” of what the Order was supposed to be as guardians of peace and justice. He wishes the Jedi had lived up to its best ideals, which he still sees as noble. It’s why, on Ahsoka, Baylan Skoll has shown an unexpected amount of reverence for the Jedi, including for Ahsoka Tano herself.

Still, he doesn’t miss “the truth” of what the Jedi became. Baylan Skoll said that “weakness” is the real Jedi legacy, one shared by Anakin and Ahsoka. It’s a legacy of arrogance and rigid dogma that resulted in death and destruction. He believes Jedi failure was so ingrained in the Order that when Baylan Skoll fought Ahsoka, he called their battle “inevitable” because Jedi only know violence.

The warrior believed in the Jedi so much the pain over what they became still hurts. The only time Baylan Skoll ever showed real emotion on Ahsoka is when he got angry while fighting Lady Tano, and when he made clear he’s no longer a Jedi. However, his obvious hatred for Anakin Skywalker and comments about the Empire also indicates he has no love for Sith, either.

Would Baylan Skoll have lost his faith completely if he had never learned about Anakin Skywalker’s fate? We don’t know and probably never can. What is clear is that knowledge sent Baylan down a path few others have ever walked.

Is Baylan Skoll a Grey Jedi or Sith?

Baylan Skoll is “no Jedi.” But despite murdering people in cold blood, he’s not like a Sith Lord, either. He has ethics and is not seeking power for his own benefit. Baylan thinks war is “evil” even if necessary. He also keeps his word (to a point) with captured enemies and doesn’t kill unless he thinks he must. And he wants something better for the galaxy than what the Jedi and Sith have given it.

Baylan Skoll has his own moral compass that puts him somewhere between the Jedi and the Sith on Ahsoka. He’s pragmatic rather than having a strict ideology. His approach is Machiavellian, where the ends justify the means, because he believes “one must destroy in order to create.”

What he seems to want to create is a future free of the death and destruction that burned down everything he’d ever known.

Baylan Skoll would seem to stand along the proverbial middle point between light and dark. That, along with his orange lightsaber, has led to some to ask if he qualifies as a Gray Jedi. The concept of a Jedi who straddles the light and dark sides of the Force comes from Star Wars Legends. It’s not part of Disney canon, and some don’t even believe Gray Jedi ever existed, and the term is meaningless.

Therefore, Baylan Skoll is not a Gray Jedi because they aren’t a thing. He only shares a few similarities with that nebulous definition anyway. He’s something else entirely, something that makes him one of the most interesting and unique Force users in Star Wars history. He’s a powerful, practical warrior who believes it doesn’t matter whether Jedi or Sith rule the galaxy because the existence of both means war is always on the horizon. That is unless he can end the cycle forever.

That quest is what brought him to Peridea.

What Is “The Beginning” Baylan Skoll Seeks on Ahsoka?

Baylan Skoll did not go to a distant wasteland just to bring back Thrawn. Baylan Skoll went to Peridea, a “land of dreams and madness,” because it calls out to him. Something “stirs” in the Nightsisters’ original home. Whatever that is, it’s powerful enough the Great Mothers want to flee Peridea.

Baylan Skoll doesn’t fear what he hears in Ahsoka‘s distant galaxy. He wants to use that immense power to end the vicious, inevitable cycle of war Jedi and Sith have created in his own galaxy. To do that, he seeks “the beginning,” and the Jedi and Sith began with the Force during a time when the Pathway to Peridea first opened.

Baylan’s plan—driven by a desire to end the Jedi, Sith, and possibly even other Force users and the galaxy they’ve created—raises monumental questions about all of Star Wars. Is Peridea where the Force began? The very center of it? Or is it simply where Jedi and Sith first discovered that immense power? And what would it mean if Baylan Skoll found “the beginning” of the Force, which exists everywhere, on Ahsoka? How could someone even destroy something that powerful and omnipresent, something every living thing carries inside them? Or could it be the Great Mothers are fleeing their planet because the Force is becoming too powerful for everyone? Something too dark even for them? Something that would destroy Baylan Skoll if he locates it in Ahsoka‘s finale?

The future of the galaxy far, far away hangs in the balance on Peridea, but not because Thrawn is back. The Grand Admiral seeks a power that is fleeting. Baylan Skoll is on a very different path, one that he must walk alone without his apprentice Shin Hati. He let her go to earn her position in the new Empire while he seeks something that predates the Jedi and the Sith. It’s something Baylan believes will put an end to both forever.

Originally published on September 20, 2023.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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Ahsoka takes place just nine years after A New Hope, a period of optimism when heroes of the original Star Wars trilogy worked to rebuild the galaxy. Those icons served alongside other major figures of the post-Empire era, including main characters from Disney+’s live-action shows. One such legend, Luke Skywalker, already made his presence felt during this time with cameos on both The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. But while Lucasfilm brought back the famous Jedi by digitally de-aging Mark Hamill, the studio used a different approach to show how another Skywalker served the New Republic in her own way. Ahsoka‘s seventh episode paid tribute to the late Carrie Fisher by having C-3PO represent Senator Organa at a public hearing. C-3PO’s Ahsoka cameo reminded us why Princess Leia has always been Star Wars‘ greatest hero.

Hera Syndulla’s seemingly inevitable court martial disappeared like a purrgil into hyperspace when C-3PO unexpectedly arrived at her hearing during the Ahsoka episode. Mon Mothma and high-ranking members of the Galactic Senate had called Hera to answer for her unsanctioned mission to Seatos. With an indignant Hamato Xioni ready to bring down the proverbial hammer on Hera for disobeying orders, Leia provided her fellow Rebel and old friend retroactive cover. Threepio presented the committee with an obviously doctored data transcript. It said Senator Organa “personally sanctioned” Hera’s undertaking to Seatos previously. To explain the Ahsoka misunderstanding C-3PO also said Leia had been “unaware” Xiono had already voted against such a mission.

Senator Xiono’s indignation and strong objections didn’t matter after that. He does not have the standing and influence of Senator Organa. Leia’s evidence was enough for the Chancellor (who knew what was really happening) to clear Hera Syndulla of all wrongdoing.

But in classic Leia fashion, she also threw in an extra dig at Xiono and the other incompetent senators who are dooming the New Republic to fail. She both bested and reprimanded them in a way only Leia Organa could. She not only absolved Hera of guilt, she tactfully criticized the committee for trying to stop the righteous mission. C-3PO told the Ahsoka council, “Senator Organa is willing to overlook this misstep but asks that you address any further concerns to her directly in her role as leader of the Defense Council.”

It was a perfect end to a perfect message. Without even being in the room, Leia Organa made her full presence felt, in a scene that captured everything we loved about Carrie Fisher’s Princess. More importantly, that moment served as yet another reminder the galaxy never had a better, more dependable hero than Leia.

As soon as she was old enough, Leia Organa began risking her comfortable life to serve the Rebellion. Her bravery helped save the galaxy from Palpatine. She then nobly and ably served the New Republic when others willfully ignored existential threats. And she started the Resistance when she recognized her government wasn’t up to the challenge. Without her unwavering dedication even when all hope seemed loss, her training of Rey, and her ultimate sacrifice to rescue her son’s soul, the First Order would have won. Without Leia Organa, Sheev Palpatine would have ruled over his evil Empire forever.

Unlike so many other great heroes she served with, Leia did all of that without ever walking away from her responsibilities. Not even for a moment. While powerful Jedi went into hiding or seclusion, she was on the front lines. While her husband couldn’t handle losing their son to the dark side, Leia stayed and led. And while other politicians buried their head in the sand, she rose to the occasion. She was the hero friends and strangers alike could always count on, especially when they needed her most. She was there in the biggest moments, like on Endor and Crait. And she was there in the smallest, like when her friend needed help in court.

The Princess who became a Senator and a General spent her whole life giving the galaxy everything she had to offer. She did so no matter the personal cost. From inspiring and keeping the spark of hope alive, to organizing and getting tangible results, she did it all. Always.

That dedication—along with her pitch-perfect ability to do the right thing in the funniest, smartest, most entertaining way possible—is why she was and always will be Star Wars‘ best hero. And that’s true even if she sends C-3PO to speak on her behalf.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on  Twitter and  Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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In the time period that covers The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and now Star Wars: Ahsoka, we’re right in the thick of the earliest days of the New Republic. The former insurgents of the Rebel Alliance formed this government and former Rebel leader Mon Mothma is their Chancellor. But as we’ve seen so far, especially in the most recent episode of Ahsoka, this New Republic is a very weak government. So much so, that when the First Order utterly destroys the New Republic in The Force Awakens, some 20 years later….it’s going to be hard to argue that they didn’t have it coming. We aren’t talking about the billions of innocents who died thanks to Starkiller Base. But the actual government? Sorry, but they made their own bed… and here’s why.

Even before Ahsoka, The Mandalorian showed how terrible the New Republic was at recognizing any emerging threat. They recruited several former Imperials into the New Republic ranks via their Amnesty Program. On paper, there’s nothing wrong with that. After all, the Empire conscripted millions of people into serving them, and most probably didn’t have Imperial loyalties. They had no choice. But enough did have fascist ideologies, like Elia Kane (Katy O’Brian). So it’s shocking that their vetting process was so extremely lacking. They ignored the rise of Moff Gideon simply because he was too far away to be a threat to the core worlds. This was an early example of their extreme short-sightedness. But in Star Wars: Ahsoka, it gets worse.

Ahsoka Shows the New Republic Ignoring the Threat of Thrawn

In episode three of Ahsoka, we see how General Hera Syndulla (May Elizabeth Winstead) pleads with Chancellor Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) and several New Republic senators for military aid in seeking out Grand Admiral Thrawn. But the New Republic bureaucrats scoff at the idea that Thrawn is even still alive, much less still a threat. Mon Mothma seems like she knows better, having encountered Thrawn’s military prowess during the events of the Galactic Civil War. But she ultimately has to give in to what her constituents want. And the New Republic must deny Hera any help in the search for Thrawn. We see the New Republic’s representatives act very similarly in episode seven of the show as well. At best, the majority appears to find Hera to be overreacting, and at worst, they actively seek to punish her for her warnings and foresight.

Here’s the thing, though. At some point, either in Ahsoka or in the future movie that Dave Filoni has planned, Thrawn will make himself known as a true threat to the galaxy again. This is a given. And we know that he’ll eventually be defeated, die, or retreat again into another galaxy. We know this because two decades or so later, around the time of the sequel trilogy, Thrawn is not a threat anymore. But all of that makes the New Republic’s eventual failure with the First Order even more embarrassing.

The New Republic’s Failures in Ahsoka Ultimately Lead to the First Order

In the sequel trilogy, we know that the New Republic has an extremely small military. In canon novels like Bloodline, we discovered that the Senate believed that a centralized military fleet would be too much like the previous Empire. Thus, they reduced the New Republic military by 90%. On one level, we get this edict. The Rebellion went through a long and bloody war. Most citizens would want to get back to how things were before Palpatine turned the Republic into a fascist regime. But as the saying goes, you can never go home again. The galaxy changed, in many ways, for the worse. Pretending otherwise was foolish.

Ignoring the threat of neo-Imperials out in the galaxy was colossally dumb. It was also colossally dumb to believe that bankrolling a small Resistance would be enough to defeat a faction like the First Order. Because of this willful ignorance, the First Order used Starkiller Base to wipe out the New Republic capital, Hosnian Prime. Not to mention several neighboring worlds. We should note, a senator who appears in the third and seventh episodes of Ahsoka, Senator Hamato Xiono (Nelson Lee), debuted on the sequel trilogy-era animated series Resistance. He was the father of that show’s lead character, Kazuda Xiono. Senator Xiono’s casual dismissal of Hera’s warnings in Ahsoka episode three ultimately leads to his home world’s destruction in The Force Awakens, although he himself survives.

We think it’s safe to say the First Order only emerged because a threat like Thrawn must have come very close to victory over the New Republic. The First Order higher-ups could look back and figure out what mistakes he made and avoid them. The New Republic witnessing a threat like Thrawn, or even just hearing about what he had planned, should have been enough for a complete rethinking of their “no significant military” policy. Instead, they ignored it all and buried their heads in the sand. And by the time of The Force Awakens a few decades later, billions paid the price for it. The New Republic’s extreme denial of credible threats led to its demise.

Will the galactic government we see in the upcoming Rey-centric New Jedi Order movie be any better? That movie will be set fifteen years after the fall of the First Order, as seen in The Rise of Skywalker. So we hope whatever new government is formed is not as blind to threats as the New Republic clearly was. Also, maybe this time call it the “Galactic Alliance.” The word Republic might be tainted now. Between the failures of the Old Republic in the prequels and the new Republic in the current series like Ahsoka, let’s hope something better finally emerges for the galaxy far, far away.

Originally published on August 31, 2023.

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We’ve all known the Star Wars galaxy has its own form of jazz music since we first heard the cantina band in A New Hope. Eventually, Lucasfilm revealed the actual name of this form of jazz popularized by bands like Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes in the Mos Eisley Cantina. And it was quite an unfortunate one. See, in the Star Wars galaxy, they call that space jazz “jizz.” Yes, someone back in the day gave “jizz music” the stamp of approval. But according to a report in the A.V. Club, it seems Lucasfilm might be phasing out the name “jizz music” and replacing it. A recent Star Wars book refers to the space jazz as “jatz” music.

The name “jizz” first turned up in a kid’s novelization of Return of the Jedi back in the ’80s, and the immature among us have been finding amusement in it ever since. (Yes, including our very own Dan Casey, as you can see in the clip above in which Alden Ehrenreich discovers jizz music.) But in the recently released short story collection From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi, a story by Lucasfilm’s creative art manager Phil Szostak tells a tale about how Max Rebo (you remember, the blue alien Muppet-looking guy) wound up playing at Jabba’s palace. At one point in the story, Max mentions “one of any number of jatz standards he knew by heart.”

And there you have it. Jatz seemingly replaced jizz. To be fair, Szostak is quite aware of the previous name and appears to have fun with it in his story. He writes that jatz “came to be known by many names, some less palatable than others.” Jatz wasn’t made up just for Szostak’s story. The term has appeared in Star Wars fiction before, going back to the ’90s. But it now seems to be fully replacing jizz.

We can’t really say that we blame the powers that be here. But those of us who get perverse joy in telling unsuspecting fans this wild but true Star Wars factoid? You can’t take that away from us. We know it happened.

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Since the start of Ahsoka, Mandalorian warrior, Jedi trainee, and former rebel Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) has been single-minded about her objective. For Sabine, it’s to find her old friend Ezra Bridger, who exiled himself, and Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn, into unknown space at the end of Star Wars Rebels. When we meet Sabine again in Ahsoka, years have passed since she lost her Ghost crewmate. But despite training as a Jedi under Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson), Sabine Wren still had one goal in mind—find Ezra. She even allowed ex-Jedi mercenaries Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) and Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno) to find Thrawn in order for her to locate her friend as well. And in episode six of Ahsoka, “Far, Far Away,” the reunion between Sabine and Ezra finally took place.

Sabine Is Taken to Grand Admiral Thrawn, Demanding to See Ezra

Taken to the planet Peridea in another galaxy, as a willing prisoner of Baylan Skoll and Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto), Sabine confronts her old enemy, Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen). Since she helped Skoll by not destroying the orb that contained the map to Peridea, Baylan promised to allow Sabine the chance to find the lost Ezra. Thrawn lets Baylan keep his word to Sabine (to an extent). He gave her an animal called a howler and intel on Ezra’s location. She journeys into the wilds of the planet looking for her friend.

As she travels across the bleak terrain of Peridea, Sabine encounters bandits and then a species called the Noti. The aliens look like adorable anthropomorphic snails. They can curl up into their shells and hide from predators, appearing to be rocks. If it sounds like the trolls from Frozen, well, it’s because they’re very much like the trolls from Frozen. When Sabine tries to talk to the Noti she encounters, she notices it is wearing a symbol of the Rebel Alliance. She realizes this creature must know Ezra. She follows the Noti to his village, a settlement of several homes that look like larger versions of their shells. Soon, Sabine discovers her old friend from the Ghost crew, Ezra Bridger, is living among the Noti. Eman Esfandi plays adult Ezra.

Sabine Wren and Ezra Bridger Reunite At Last in Ahsoka

Seeing one another after a decade, Ezra and Sabine finally have their reunion in Ahsoka and hug it out. Ezra is now a full-grown man, as it’s a been a decade since the events of the Rebels finale. Sabine hesitates to tell Ezra details about how she found him, probably realizing that he’ll be deeply disappointed knowing her actions might help bring Thrawn back home. How that conversation will go down will have to wait, as right now the two old friends are just happy to see each other.

Unknown to Sabine and Ezra, Thrawn has sent Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati out to kill them. Thus, Thrawn sort of keeps Baylan’s word by allowing her to find her missing friend. What he forgot to mention was he’d be willing to kill her right after. But we have a feeling neither of these old friends is going down so easily.

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In episode six of Ahsoka, we heard a term we’ve never heard before in the saga for a Jedi. When Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno) asked her master Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) if he ever knew Ezra Bridger personally, he said he didn’t. He said that “he was a breed of Bokken Jedi,” trained “in the wild,” outside the strict rules and regulations of the Jedi Temple. The word “Bokken” is actually a Japanese term, used to describe a wooden sword used for training in kenjutsu. This would not be the first time Star Wars has taken a Japanese word and uses it to describe something else. Here’s what Ahsoka‘s new term “Bokken Jedi” might mean in the Star Wars universe.

Both “Bokken” and “Jedi” Are Derived from Japanese Words

Ever since Star Wars’ early days as an idea in George Lucas’ brain, the franchise has used Japanese terms to describe things. Even the word “Jedi” was a riff on the Japanese term “jidaigeki” meaning period drama, usually ones about samurai. It’s possible that Bokken Jedi is merely an insulting term coined by Baylan Skoll and not an official Star Wars designation. But if Bokken is an actual Jedi term in the galaxy far, far away, then it’s one that describes most of the important Jedi Knights in the entire saga. If legit, then Ezra Bridger, Luke Skywalker, and Rey Skywalker were all Jedi trained in the Bokken way. Ahsoka was training Sabine Wren this way, too, out in the wild, far away from the stricter codes of the Jedi Temple.

In the prequel trilogy, we learn Jedi trained under a very strict method that existed for a thousand generations. The Jedi Order adopted them as small children, probably around three to four years old. As Younglings, Master Yoda gave them basic lessons in the Force. Then, upon entering puberty, they began an apprenticeship under a Jedi Master as their Padawan learner. After a period of time as a Padawan, they each face their personal trials, and graduate to the status of Jedi Knight. This was the training method of Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and to a certain extent, Anakin Skywalker. But Star Wars‘ Bokken Jedi walk a different path.

Ezra, Luke, and Rey Might All Be “Bokken Jedi”

After the fall of the Jedi Order in Revenge of the Sith, the handful of remaining Jedi couldn’t be so precious about the rules. If they encountered someone Force-sensitive, they put aside concerns about whether they were too old or even too emotional. Kanan Jarrus wasn’t even a full Jedi Knight in Star Wars Rebels when he started training 14-year-old orphan Ezra Bridger. Even Yoda, the epitome of the Jedi Order itself, had to throw those rules out to train an adult Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back. And even though Luke tried to establish a proper Jedi Temple, by the time Rey came to him, not only was she an adult, she’d had no formal Jedi instruction at all. When Luke became one with the Force, his sister Leia continued Rey’s training. Even though she herself never fully became a Jedi Knight. Since these Star Wars Jedi are shaped so differently, it would make sense to give them the new designation of Bokken Jedi.

Bokken Jedi May Be the Future of the Order

These three Bokken Jedi were the saviors of the galaxy. Ezra saved Lothal from Thrawn, Luke saved the entire Galaxy from Vader, and Rey stopped Palpatine. Meanwhile, the Jedi trained under the strict codes of the Order? Well, Count Dooku, trained in the temple under its rules, and went to the dark side. Obi-Wan’s inflexibility helped to push Anakin to the dark side as well. Even the Grand Inquisitor was a Jedi Temple Guard, who no doubt grew up and trained in the Temple himself. If anything, living a previous life outside the Jedi only made Ezra, Luke, and Rey better Jedi than most. All were tempted by the dark side, and all resisted in the end. Hopefully, when Rey trains her new generation of Jedi, she’s a little more “Bokken,” and a little less “Old School Jedi Temple.”

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After waiting for five whole episodes of Ahsoka, the Star Wars galaxy’s most infamous blue man has finally arrived. That’s right, we’re talking about Grand Admiral Thrawn, played by Lars Mikkelsen. Who, of course, also voiced the character on Star Wars Rebels. The search for Thrawn has been the basic plot of Ahsoka, with former Nightsister Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) searching for her former master. Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and her allies have been trying to stop Morgan from finding Thrawn and reigniting another galactic war.

Grand Admiral Thrawn Was in Exile on the Planet Peridea

As we learned from previous episodes, when young Ezra Bridger commanded the space whales called purrgil to yank Thrawn and his Star Destroyer away from Lothal into parts unknown in the finale of Rebels, they wound up in another distant galaxy. The only way to access that galaxy was with a hyperspace ring, which Morgan Elsbeth built above the planet Seatos. Via an ancient star map, Morgan discovered the exact coordinates of Thrawn’s current whereabouts: a planet called Peridea where Thrawn was in exile for a decade, since before the events of A New Hope.

Once Morgan Elsbeth, ex-Jedi Baylan Skoll, and Shin Hati arrive on Peridea, three Dathomirian Nightsisters greet them. The episode revealed Peridea is where the Nightsisters came from, long before migrating to Dathomir eons ago. And some still remain on Peridea. That’s when Thrawn’s Star Destroyer appeared above them all. Thrawn painted the Chimaera with the symbols of the Chiss, Thrawn’s people from the Unknown Regions. It also looked terribly damaged, no doubt from the purrgil who brought the ship there in the first place over a decade earlier.

Thrawn’s Star Destroyer and Stromtroopers Have Seen Better Days

When Thrawn first appeared, he was wearing his standard white Grand Admiral uniform, and didn’t look worse for wear after a decade in exile. His fleet of stormtroopers however, were much worse for wear. Red bands held the armor together, and strange gold material sealed the cracks, like kintsugi. The troopers seemed to have a cult-like devotion to their commanding officer, chanting “Thrawn! Thrawn! Thrawn!” as he walked the deck of the Chimaera to greet his rescuers. One of the stormtroopers, Enoch, seemed to be his right-hand man. This character wore a gold mask superimposed on an old stormtrooper helmet. We’re not sure if he’s a former trooper, or something else.

Although Thrawn agreed to help Sabine Wren, now a prisoner of Elsbeth, find her old friend Ezra Bridger, he claimed to not know where Ezra was. Or if he was even still alive. But he gave Sabine their last known intel on where they thought Bridger may be. However, Thrawn asked Baylan and his apprentice to kill both Sabine and Ezra once Sabine found him. But he seemed far less concerned with getting revenge on the Jedi who stranded him than with getting back home. The Mandalorian’s third season showed us the Imperial Shadow Council is patiently waiting for Thrawn to return and rebuild the Empire.

Thrawn Sees Himself as the “Heir to the Empire”

A decade in exile didn’t seem to crack Thrawn’s cold and collected demeanor. He still came across as the calculating tactical genius from Star Wars Rebels, not to mention several Timothy Zahn novels. He’s never been the kind of character to lose his cool, even in the most dire of circumstances. We’ll see if that changes when he faces off against Ahsoka Tano, who is now hot on his trail. She’s made it her mission to stop him from returning to the galaxy we know, and naming himself “Heir to the Empire.” But we have a strong feeling Thrawn isn’t going to let any Jedi stop him from achieving his goal.

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Among all the fun Star Wars Easter eggs and callbacks to The Clone Wars in the fifth episode of Ahsoka, titled “Shadow Warrior,” we also got an iconic Star Wars character a shout-out: none other than Princess Leia Organa. Or, at this point in her life, Senator Leia Organa of the New Republic. X-wing pilot Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) mentions Senator Organa by name to Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). He tells Hera that Senator Organa was covering for them and their unauthorized mission, likely in the senate chamber. We could chalk this up to Leia being a badass as usual. However, the truth is she too would have a personal investment in this mission. And it’s not just to protect the galaxy from Grand Admiral Thrawn. Because as Star Wars Rebels once showed us, Leia knew the Ghost crew, and Ezra Bridger, personally.

Teenage Princess Leia Worked With the Ghost Crew in Star Wars Rebels

A teenage Princess Leia appeared in the second season Star Wars Rebels episode “A Princess on Lothal.” She’s voiced by Julie Dolan, who also voiced her in the Disney Parks attraction Star Tours. The events of this episode take place about four years before the events of A New Hope. A 15-year-old Leia undertakes a mission for the Rebellion for her father, Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan. After the Phoenix cell loses several ships in battle with the Empire, Bail Organa concocts a plan to help them. The plan has his daughter Leia escorting several Alderaanian ships to Lothal, and then allowing the rebels to steal them. At this point in the timeline, Leia is not a part of the Imperial Senate yet. She’s just her father’s aide.

Princess Leia and Ezra Bridger Formed a Bond in Star Wars Rebels

Due to several mishaps, our Rebels heroes have to stage Leia’s kidnapping as well as steal the ships, so it looks like she’s a loyal Imperial representative on Lothal. It gives her plausible deniability. Leia’s true role as a part of the Rebel Alliance is not uncovered until A New Hope. During this mission, Princess Leia bonds with young Ezra Bridger. He is going through a tough time because he’s found out his parents are dead. During a hopeless moment, Leia assures Ezra that despite all the losses, this is a fight worth having.

Leia and Ezra have a few other things in common, although neither knew it when they met. For starters, they’re almost the exact same age. Ezra was born on “Empire Day,” the day Palpatine declared himself Emperor and transformed the Galactic Republic into the Galactic Empire. Leia and her twin brother Luke were born roughly a day or so later. Both events were pivotal scenes in Revenge of the Sith. And of course, both teenagers are also strong in the Force.

Leia Defying the New Republic Foreshadows Her Role in The Force Awakens

Given her mission with Ezra and the Ghost crew, it makes perfect sense why years later, Leia would see Ezra as more than just a faceless name. Of course, unlike other members of the New Republic Senate, she actually fought on the front lines of the Galactic Civil War. She would recognize a threat like Grand Admiral Thrawn more than other senators. Many of them likely stood on the sidelines during the conflict, waiting to see who would come out on top. But Leia would have a personal interest in the young man she bonded with in the early days of the Rebellion, and want to see him rescued. Especially since he sacrificed himself to save Lothal from the Empire years prior. The act of heroic self-sacrifice is something Leia Organa would ever forget.

Leia’s defiance of her fellow New Republic senators also foreshadows her role in the sequel trilogy. She recognizes a true threat when she sees one. She also trusts decorated officers like Hera Syndulla to have good judgment. If Hera thinks Thrawn is a threat, then Leia trusts her. It completely lines up with Leia decades later. When the New Republic is equally in denial of the First Order threat, she leaves and helps form a private Resistance. One can see how even a few years after Return of the Jedi, Leia was already frustrated with the short-sighted bureaucracies of the New Republic . Something Hera said in Ahsoka, “Once a rebel, always a rebel,” will always apply to Leia Organa.

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Ahsoka made good on its promise to bring more than important Star Wars‘ characters back to the screen. The show also introduced one of the franchise’s most important locales to live-action. In Ahsoka, the mystical Star Wars realm known as the World Between Worlds returned to our screens. First introduced in Star Wars Rebels, it’s a plane that exists outside of space and time. But that’s the most basic way to understand a realm that is difficult to understand and even harder to define.

How does Star Wars‘ World Between Worlds work? What is its connection to the Force? And what makes it so important to both the galaxy far, far away, and Ahsoka Tano personally? Here’s everything you need to know about the World Between Worlds from Star Wars Rebels, everything we’ve learned about it from Ahsoka, and everything we don’t know just yet about the mysterious realm.

What Is Star Wars‘ World Between Worlds?

In the Star Wars universe, the World Between Worlds is an ethereal dimension intimately connected to the Force. It’s a collection of “pathways and doors” that exists outside of time and space. Physically the World Between Worlds looks like it’s floating in outer space. And thanks to the countless stars that dot its exterior, it resembles a reverse, moon-sized glass snow globe.

Ezra Bridger also heard voices speaking to him from the past, present, and future inside the World Between Worlds. But others would hear different people speaking to them if they visited. They would also have very different experiences.

Also known as the Vergence Scatter (per the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary), the World Between Worlds’ translucent pathways react like water when someone walks on them. At the end of those pathways are portals that can transport travelers across both short and vast physical distances. Star Wars‘ World Between Worlds can also move people through time.

What Are Loth-Wolves’ Connection to the World Between Worlds?

Like purrgil, Loth-wolves have an intimate connection to the Force. But where those magical space whales can travel at hyper speeds, Loth-wolves can travel through the World Between Worlds.

Loth-wolves saved rebels on Lothal by moving them halfway across the planet in a moment via the World Between Worlds. (Initially, no human rider remembered or understood exactly what had happened.)

Loth-wolves can easily enter the World Between Worlds because they themselves are keys to the realm’s doors. Ezra Bridger’s own journey into that dimension—which he had made in different ways prior without knowing it, like when he got his lightsaber’s kyber crystal and when he spoke to Yoda on Dagobah—showed how Loth-wolves make travel into the plane possible. They’re essentially living portals.

How Did Ezra Bridger Access the World Between Worlds on Star Wars Rebels?

Ezra Bridger used the Force and a painting at the Jedi Temple on Lothal to open a portal into the World Between Worlds. That massive work of art depicted the Force-connected Mortis gods—the Father (Balance), the Daughter (Light), and the Son (Dark). The painting also included a pack of Loth-wolves and a bird on the Daughter’s shoulder.

Ezra placed his hand atop the Daughter’s to open the gateway to the World Between Worlds. When he touched her open palm the painting began to move. The Loth-wolves then walked away from the mural. Ezra followed them and discovered they had formed a walking circle on a rock that created an unseen door for Ezra to walk through so he could enter the realm. The stormtroopers that tried to follow him could not use it. Even though the portal remained open, the troopers crashed into the stone.

Inside the World Between Worlds, Ezra saw other portals to times and places in the Star Wars world. That included one that showed him an event that had happened two years prior.

How Did Ezra Save Ahsoka Tano From Darth Vader Inside the World Between Worlds?

Inside the World Between Worlds Ezra saw Morai—a convor bird that frequently accompanied Ahsoka Tano—above a portal. A similar (the same?) convor bird was also in the painting of the Mortis gods on Lothal. It sat atop the Daughter’s shoulder.

That portal then went from black to showing Ezra an event that had happened two years earlier inside a Sith temple. He saw Ahsoka dueling Darth Vader on Malachor, a fight Ezra did not witness in person despite also being on the planet when it happened.

Moments before Vader struck a fatal blow to Ahsoka, Ezra instinctively reached through the portal and pulled Ahsoka inside with him, saving her life. Fans of Star Wars Rebels knew Ahsoka Tano had ultimately survived that encounter, but her friends thought she had died.

What Happened With Ezra and Ahsoka Inside the World Between Worlds?

Neither Ahsoka nor Ezra understood exactly where they were. (The sacred ancient Jedi texts contained information about the World Between Worlds, but many of those remained lost or hidden until Luke Skywalker found them following the collapse of the Empire.) Fortunately for both of them, Ahsoka quickly understood the ramifications of their situation.

After saving Ahsoka, Ezra was eager to use a different gateway to save another one his dead loves ones from their fate. Another portal then seemed to give Ezra that chance. It revealed one of the worst moments in his life, when his Jedi Master, Kanan Jarrus, sacrificed himself to save Ezra, Hera Syndulla, and Sabine Wren.

Ezra wanted to pull Kanan into the World Between Worlds, same as he did Ahsoka, but she told Ezra that he would doom them all if he did. Without Kanan’s sacrifice the rest of them would have died.

Would interfering with that moment have created a paradox? If Ezra died in the past, would he have been around now to save Kanan in the first place?

We never got any answers to the obvious questions raised by messing with events of the past because Ezra let his Master go. But it’s also not clear if Ezra even had the option to save Kanan. First, because it’s not clear anyone can change the past. But also because the portal that beckoned Ezra to save Kanan might have only been a ruse by Palpatine.

How Did Palpatine Attack Ezra and Ahsoka in the World Between Worlds?

Palpatine had been trying to access the World Between Worlds via the Mortis painting on Lothal. His advisor, Minister Veris Hydan, was futilely trying to discover how to open a gateway when Ezra Bridger snuck onto the site with Sabine Wren and did it himself.

Without his own door, Palpatine tried to use Ezra to let him in. The Emperor seemed (though it’s never been definitely claridied) to create the image of Kanan’s death to make a connection with Ezra. The Emperor then used that partial pathway to attack Ezra and Ahsoka. Palpatine sent a massive energy force into the World Between Worlds and used the blue flame-like tendrils to start dragging Ezra Bridger to him. But Ahsoka severed the connection with her lightsaber, preventing Palpatine from using Ezra to enter the World Between Worlds.

The two Jedi then fled the World Between Worlds, with each returning to the same location and same place in the timeline they had come from. Ahsoka followed Morai through the gateway Ezra had pulled her in from back to return to the now desolate Malachor.

There she descended further into the Sith Temple, just as viewers had seen her do two years earlier. This was the last shot of Ahsoka in season two of Star Wars Rebels.

This is what viewers saw after she left the World Between Worlds in season four. It connects her journey in this episode to her disappearance two years prior.

Ahsoka did not travel forward through time after entering the World Between Worlds, she just went outside of time briefly. (At least, she didn’t move through time during this trip.)

Ezra then returned to his timeline—two years past where Ahsoka went—back to Lothal. That prevented Palpatine from accessing the mystical realm. Ezra then closed the gateway in the real world before either destroying or burying the entire Jedi Temple.

The amount of time (relative to themselves) both Ezra and Ahsoka experienced inside the World Between Worlds seemed to be how much time passed during the real world. Vader was long gone by the time Ahsoka got back to Malachor, and Ezra’s friends had made their way towards the painting by the time he returned.

What Happened to Ahsoka After She Left the World Between Worlds?

Ahsoka Tano is one of the greatest and most important characters in Star Wars history. And yet we know very little about her life during one of the galaxy far, far away’s most important eras. We don’t know what happened to her after she left the World Between Worlds and before her reappearance during Star Wars Rebels final sequence, which takes place much later after Palpatine’s (original) death. That’s a gap of roughly seven years, a time when the Rebels defeated the Empire.

The only clue we have about what she did after going deeper into that Sith Temple comes via canonical Dave Filoni-illustrated digital Topps trading cards. Yes, seriously.

The first four of Filoni’s 10 Ahsoka cards show her duel with Vader and her arrival at the triangle door on Malachor, all of which we know definitely happened. The others, many of which feature her following Morai, therefore seem to indicate what happened after she walked down them. She waded through water (an aspect that has taken on far greater importance after Ahsoka), then went up another flight of stairs. There she discovered yet another portal that took her back into the World Between Worlds.

Why did she go right back to that dimension? Why did Morai lead her there? What did she find when she went in? Where and when in the timeline did she exit from? She seemingly wasn’t around aided in the Rebel Alliance’s fight in the Galactic Civil War. She only officially reemerged when she joined Sabine Wren’s quest to find Ezra Bridger after the Empire’s collapse.

When we finally saw Ahsoka during Star Wars Rebels‘ final scene, she was clad in all white and holding a staff. If that outfit and her entire story of coming “back” from the dead sounds a lot like what happened with Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings, that’s because it is. Dave Filoni has explicitly described Ahsoka’s journey and role in the franchise as being similar to the legendary wizard of Middle-earth.

An unaired scene Filoni shared between Ahsoka and Bendu, a magical Force-sensitive creature, indicates the Ahsoka we knew metaphorically died on Malachor, much like Gandalf the Grey was different when he returned to the world as Gandalf the White. (Ahsoka abandoned this look at the start of her Disney+ show, but returned to it after her second on-screen journey there.)

Like Gandalf, Ahsoka also knows why true evil must never gain access to power no one should have.

Why Is the World Between Worlds So Dangerous in the Star Wars Universe?

Veris Hydan was unable to open a portal to the World Between Worlds for his Emperor, but not from a lack of trying. Under threat of torture he forced Sabine Wren, an artist of great renown, to try and help him decipher the Mortis painting’s meaning.

During their time together, Hydan explained to Sabine why Palpatine wanted access to the dimension that serves as a nexus of all time and space. His words were one of the many ominous insights we have about the dimension’s terrifying possibilities.

“He who controls it controls the universe,” Hydan said of Star Wars‘ World Between Worlds. Palpatine, who resurrected himself decades later, also described the World Between Worlds as “a conduit between the living and the dead.” And Ezra heard the image of the Son, who represents the dark side of the Force, ominously say, “The future, by its nature, can be changed.”

The World Between Worlds, in ways we don’t yet (and might never) fully know, is just like the Force itself. It can be used for either knowledge or destruction. It’s neither inherently good or bad; the people who use its power determine that. No wonder Filoni has said “One of the things [Palpatine] knows about it” is that it provides an opportunity for him to control “through time and space, different events through the Force.”

All of which raises an obvious question without a clear answer.

Is the World Between Worlds Star Wars Time Travel?

That obvious question has two obvious answers: yes and no. If Ahsoka had followed Ezra back through his own portal on Lothal, she would have traveled two years into her own future. That sounds like the type of thing Palpatine believes he could have done if he found his own key into the realm. He wanted to stop old enemies and future ones from ever fighting him. He wanted both ancient lost knowledge and insights that lay well beyond his own years. The Emperor’s plans almost certainly included nightmares we can’t fully imagine.

Taylor Gray, the voice of Ezra on Rebels, also said Filoni explained the World Between Worlds as “essentially a place where you can go and access anything.” Filoni also told him, “Time is not a concrete thing. Time is flexible, you can go forwards, backwards, any which way.”

Just because it seems like someone can/should be able to use that realm to hop around time and change events in the past, present, and future doesn’t mean they actually can. That includes Force users as powerful as Palpatine or Yoda. But even if they can, the World Between Worlds is not necessarily “time travel” the way we think of it. The Force is never that simple.

Inside the World Between Worlds, Ahsoka told Ezra, “In my experience, when you think you understand the Force, you realize just how little you know.” And the more you try to understand the World Between Worlds, the more you realize how little you know and how much you might never learn. After Ahsoka we very likely will still have many unanswered questions about the World Between Worlds, how it works, and how it can be used because some answers will never exist.

But Ahsoka has revealed even more about that nexus of space and time. Palpatine was right; it is a conduit between the living and the dead. That’s how Anakin Skywalker was able to give his Padawan one final lesson.

What Has the Ahsoka Series Revealed About the World Between Worlds?

The Disney+ Star Wars series Ahsoka introduced a new doorway to the World Between Worlds. When Lady Tano fell into the waves below the Henge on Seatos, she fell into the World Between Worlds. Just like it had long ago when Ezra pulled her in, the World Between Worlds saved Ahsoka’s life. Seatos’ Henge, “built by an ancient people from a distant galaxy,” has clear connections with the Force we don’t yet fully understand.

The importance of how Ahsoka returned to the World Between Worlds quickly gave way to the importance of who she found there. Her former Master, Anakin Skywalker, greeted Ahsoka inside that realm that truly is a conduit between the living and the dead like Palpatine said.

Once Anakin realized Ahsoka was not dead like him and could return to the world of the living, he gave her a “final lesson” that gave us more insight into the World Between Worlds.

That lesson forced Ahsoka to travel back through her own memories as a young Padawan. (An experience that was not literal time travel.) During her mystical journey into her Star Wars past, Ahsoka both inhabited her younger self and maintained her older memories. She was both young and old at the same time. How? Because the seemingly impossible is anything but in the World Between Worlds.

Anakin used that nexus of space and time to make Ahsoka face the ghosts of her past and deal with the trauma that had caused Ahsoka to shutter her heart to any emotion. Once she finally she was ready to face the future. After Anakin left her, Ahsoka saw the World Between Worlds fade away as she returned to the waters of Seatos.

The portal she used didn’t close entirely behind her when she entered, though. Force-sensitive Jacen Syndulla heard the lightsaber battle Ahsoka had with Anakin inside the World Between Worlds. That was not something anyone knew was possible before. The World Between Worlds might be outside of space in Star Wars world, but sound and feeling can flow between both.

What other possibilities we haven’t even considered remain a secret? Will that be the last time Ahsoka travels there? How might her meeting with Anakin have connected to her mysterious Topps trading card trip there long ago? Can other dead figures be found in that surreal dimension? And what role might it play in Palpatine’s eventual return? Those are just some of the many questions we still have about Star Wars‘ World Between Worlds, a place that raises more of them every time it gives us answers.

Originally published on June 6, 2023.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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Talk about a Lando Calrissian spinoff movie starring Donald Glover began when 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story arrived in theaters. Eventually a potential Lando Calrissian movie became a greenlit series. In 2020 Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy announced the development of a Lando show for Disney+. Since then fans have waited for Disney to kick things into hyperdrive. Now the Lando series’ latest update might be the clearest sign yet it will really happen, just not anytime soon. It has now been reported that Donald Glover himself is now co-writing the show for Disney+ with his brother Stephen Glover. But it’s possible the Lando series will actually return to its original movie form.

Haunted Mansion director Justin Simien’s week took an unexpected turn a while back. It was revealed that he was no longer writing the Lando series for Disney. That might not have been as big a surprise for him as we thought. Shortly before the news about the Glover brothers broke, Simien told The Hollywood Reporter he was still attached to pen the series. Since then Above the Line, who broke the news of Glover’s new role, reports Simien left the project last summer because of his Haunted Mansion duties. (Why be evasive about the Lando series? Simien likely didn’t want to announce news Disney didn’t want out in the world just yet.)

That secret timetable also answers the obvious questions about how Glover and his brother Stephen, with whom Donald has collaborated with before (Atlanta, Swarm), agreed to write the show despite the current WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Disney hired the two before either began. But until each has resolved, we’re no closer to actually seeing the Lando series than we were before this report came out.

Additionally, it’s possible the Lando series won’t even be a series anymore. Recently, Stephen Glover noted on an episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out, which we saw via Deadline, “It’s not even a show…The idea right now is to do a movie.” He concluded though that little was certain, offering, “Right now, because of the strike, it’s like telephone.” And it certainly feels that way.

The good news is that Donald Glover’s new role in series, movie, or whatever else essentially guarantees he’ll reprise the role as young Lando Calrissian. That was still technically in doubt. Whether Glover’s involvement in the Lando series means Billy Dee Williams will also appear as the elder hero of the Rebellion is yet unknown. (But we hope he will.) Just getting one of them back in the smuggler’s cape will be a better than getting neither of them. Hopefully, Disney will stop changing the deal and get Lando off the ground.

Originally published on July 28, 2023.

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The fifth episode of Ahsoka, “Shadow Warrior,” was a treat for fans of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) relives some of her most memorable and traumatic moments from the animated series, thanks to some mind-bendy World Between Worlds occurrences. She goes back to when she was a teenage Padawan under the tutelage of Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen). As an apprentice, she’s played by Barbie and Avengers: Infinity War’s Ariana Greenblatt. But these weren’t just random moments from the years-long Clone Wars we saw Ahsoka relive. They were specific references to battles that took place over the course of the animated series—ones which had a profound effect on her. These are the Clone Wars arcs that Ahsoka revisited in its fifth episode.

The Battle of Ryloth (Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 1)

The first battle Ahsoka finds herself in is the battle of Ryloth. We saw this battle in a sequence of episodes in Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ first season. These were “Storm Over Ryloth,” “Innocents of Ryloth,” and “Liberty on Ryloth.” In this arc, the forces of the Separatist Army invade the home planet of the Twi’lek people, named Ryloth (naturally). Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) and his new apprentice Ahsoka (Ashley Eckstein) lead a squadron of fighters against a Trade Federation battleship. Neimoidian Captain Mar Tuuk commanded the ship.

Although we never saw Anakin and Ahsoka in the ground battle in those episodes, we know they were there. So the World Between Worlds sequence on Ryloth fits right in, taking place between scenes. The animated series introduces us to Cham Syndulla, the resistance fighter and father of Ahsoka’s ally, General Hera Syndulla. Ahsoka says this was one of her earliest campaigns fighting in the Clone Wars. Therefore, it was very traumatic for the young teen Padawan. It makes sense she’d find herself right back there.

The Siege of Mandalore (Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 7)

The next battle we see Ahsoka relive as her younger self takes place at the very end of the Clone Wars. In fact, it’s in the show’s seventh and final season. Ahsoka, no longer part of the Jedi Order, leads a squadron of Clone Troopers to liberate the planet of Mandalore. During the Siege of Mandalore, former Sith Lord Darth Maul stole the Darksaber from the Mandalorian group Death Watch.

As their leader—thanks to acquiring the Darksaber—Maul transforms Death Watch into his own personal army. He uses them to take over Mandalore for his own Shadow Collective. These episodes of The Clone Wars are both the final episodes aired and the last chronologically. They consist of “Old Friends Not Forgotten,” “The Phantom Apprentice,” “Shattered,” and “Victory and Death.”

Mandalorian Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) leads the resistance against Maul. She was the sister of the late Duchess Satine Kryze, who ruled the planet and was a pacifist. Bo-Katan asks for the Republic’s assistance in freeing her homeworld. She gets help, but from only Ahsoka and Captain Rex and his squad. Ahsoka fights Darth Maul in these episodes, who tries to tempt her to the dark side of the Force. The Siege of Mandalore takes place at the same time as Revenge of the Sith.

In the episodes, we see how Ahsoka has to deal with her own clone troopers turning against her during Order 66. It would certainly be one of the worst moments of her life, and one can see why she returned to it in the World Between Worlds. Until she reconciled with the events of that battle, which kept her away from her Master at his most crucial moment, she was never going to be able to grow past it.

Finally, because of “Shadow Warrior,” it seems Ahsoka is ready to let go of these past traumas and grow into the Jedi she was always meant to be.

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On the surface than Star Wars and Twin Peaks don’t have much in common. The only connection that Twin Peaks co-creator David Lynch previously had to the galaxy far, far away is that George Lucas once asked him to direct Return of the Jedi. But recent developments in the Star Wars lore, first in Star Wars Rebels and now in Ahsoka, have shown that someone on staff at Lucasfilm maybe loves Lynch and Mark Frost’s seminal cult series Twin Peaks. Because there are some direct parallels between Star Wars’ mysterious World Between Worlds, and the mythology of the Black and White Lodges of Twin Peaks. But first, we must explain what each of these otherworldly Lodges are. You might want to read our own Michael Walsh’s excellent analysis of just what Star Wars’ World Between Worlds actually is, and then come right back here.

The Origins of Twin Peaks‘ Black Lodge

In Twin Peaks, the otherworldly plane called the Black Lodge and its opposite, the White Lodge, originated in legends of the Native American Nez Perce tribes. These tribes once inhabited the region of Washington State where the town of Twin Peaks currently is located. The legends described the Black Lodge as a realm of evil, one souls must pass through on their way to perfection. Anyone who entered would meet their “shadow self,” or dark doppelgänger. If someone who visited the Black Lodge did not face that evil with perfect courage, it would “annihilate their soul.” At least according to stories told by Twin Peaks’ Deputy Hawk (Michael Horse).

Twin Peaks presented the Black Lodge as an endless series of red-curtained corridors, with a chevron-patterned floor. Inside, a cackling Little Man inhabited the Red Room, and what appeared to be many dead characters from the series. Predominantly, murder victim Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee). We’d eventually discover that one could enter the Lodge through access points in the real world. But it first appeared in Twin Peaks in the form of dreams. First, the dreams of murder victim Laura Palmer in the film Fire Walk With Me. Later, the dreams of the man investigating her murder, Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan), in the show’s third episode.

Twin Peaks‘ White Lodge, Explained

The Black Lodge itself was the “shadow self” of the benevolent White Lodge. That Lodge was talked about in the original Twin Peaks series, but never actually seen on-screen. However, a realm that almost certainly is the White Lodge finally appeared in the 2017 revival Twin Peaks: The Return. It is populated by helpful entities, chiefly “the Fireman,” also known as the gentle Giant in the original series. From the White Lodge, different time periods can be accessed in our world as well.

Although the Lodges are in other planes of existence, one can access them through portals in the physical “real” world. Agent Cooper discovers an ancient Nez Perce cave petroglyph which indicates where the entrances to the Lodges are. We discovered in Twin Peaks that the Black Lodge was located in a circle of sycamore trees in Ghostwood forest. A pool of dark liquid was at the center of the circle.

In the 2017 series, a grove with a large tree husk nicknamed “Jack Rabbit’s Palace” was seemingly the entrance to the White Lodge. In the center of that grove was a pool of white liquid. This indicated it was the opposite of the Black Lodge.

How Star Wars: Ahsoka’s World Between Worlds Echoes Twin Peaks’ Lodges

In Rebels, we discovered the World Between Worlds, another reality that Jedi Ezra Bridger was able to access. Much like Twin Peaks’ villainous Windom Earle, Emperor Palpatine was seeking to access this mystical plane, and use its power for himself. Our heroes had to find a way to get there first. In both Rebels and Twin Peaks, illustrations on a cave wall indicated where someone could find the portal entrance. Much like the town of Twin Peaks was an out-of-the-way, rural community in North America, Lothal, where a doorway to the World Between Worlds is located, is an out-of-way rural planet.

In Star Wars, echoes of the past and future can be heard within the World Between Worlds, as it is a fixed point in all time and space. The two Lodges in Twin Peaks also exist outside linear time, and beings both living and dead co-exist there. Beings within can communicate to the past from the future, and vice versa. It can also access previous points in history, as we saw when Ezra pulled Ahsoka out of her duel with Darth Vader in Rebels. In The Return, Cooper travels to the past and pulls Laura Palmer out of time hours before her murder, via the Lodge. Whether it was Black or White Lodge remains unclear.

Although the entities within the Lodges can leave, they usually need human host bodies to do so. But they also exist outside their realms via wildlife, particularly, owls. In Star Wars, the Loth wolves seem like representatives of the World Between Worlds, and can travel between both the physical realm and the other place. The convor, which looks like an Earth owl, also seems to represent the nexus realm in a way, although the convor seems more tied to the world of Mortis (which itself has a mysterious connection to the World Between Worlds).

Ahsoka’s “Shadow Warrior” Further Explores the World Between Worlds

In Ahsoka’s fifth episode, “Shadow Warrior,” Ahsoka Tano finds herself in the World Between Worlds again. This happens after nearly dying in battle with ex-Jedi Baylan Skoll. She sees her long-dead master Anakin Skywalker seemingly alive again in that realm. Or, at least, she meets an aspect of him that lives within the World Between Worlds. They leave it pretty open to interpretation. An argument can be made that within the World Between Worlds, she must confront her own “shadow self” to live. Though, unlike in Twin Peaks, it’s not represented as a separate entity.

Whether Ahsoka is seeing what her Master wants her to see by reliving her past during the Clone Wars or is traveling through her own history remains unclear. This kind of ambiguity is unusual for Star Wars, but it’s very Lynchian. What does seem clear is that Ahsoka’s body remained on the planet Seatos while her mind and soul traveled to the World Between Worlds. This is similar to how, when Cooper or Laura Palmer usually find themselves in the Black Lodge, it is when they are unconscious and dreaming.

Of course, it’s not a one-for-one comparison. As far as we know, there is only one World Between Worlds. The Black and White Lodge are two sides of the same coin while being their own separate spaces. They each have their own aesthetics. The World Between Worlds only has one side, but it contains everything dark and light within it. Much like Twin Peaks pushed the boundaries of what television storytelling could be, Ahsoka is now pushing what storytelling in Star Wars could be.

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We’ve seen some amazing and amazingly large custom LEGO Star Wars builds in our day. Anyone remember that giant Jedi Temple? Well, now we’ve just seen perhaps the most impressive one of all. The YouTube channel Brickstory Builds, which has made impressive Star Wars-themed custom LEGO builds before, just delivered their pièce de résistance—the Galactic Senate Chamber. The seat of interstellar government, the Galactic Senate was a key location in the prequel trilogy, not to mention many episodes of The Clone Wars. Using over 500,000 pieces, this LEGO build is a whopping 13 feet wide, and over 6 feet tall. Watch a making of video below.

As you can see from the video, the creators of this custom build remembered to include every detail fans would want to see. In the rising podium in the center, we have the Supreme Chancellor’s senate pod. That’s where Palpatine announced his role as Emperor and the birth of the Galactic Empire. So of course, there’s a LEGO minifigure of Palpatine himself, along with his aides Mas Amedda and Sly Moore. Among the occupants of the various senate pods, we’ve also got Senators Padmé Amidala and Bail Organa. Of course, the set has Yoda and the Emperor engaging in their infamous Revenge of the Sith duel as well.

A fun Easter egg is among the senate pods, too, in the form of several little E.T. aliens. They are there, because in The Phantom Menace, George Lucas included a species that looked just like the one in his buddy Steven Spielberg’s classic film.

The most difficult part in making this according to the builders? It was getting the curved, circular structure from LEGO pieces. As collectors know well, LEGO does not tend to give itself to this kind of shape. But with a little know-how, the folks at Brickstorybuilds figured out how to get the LEGO pieces to bend in just the right way. They enlisted the help of several Star Wars LEGO fans in Germany to help them build identical individual senate pods, which probably helped them complete this much faster. Can someone ever top this LEGO Star Wars build? If anyone can do it, we bet Brickstory Builds can.

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Star Wars is a franchise with an immense historical timeline. Recently Disney has finally broken the timeline up into nine different eras. On Star Wars’ website, the timeline now consists of:

• Dawn of the Jedi
• The Old Republic
• The High Republic
• Fall of the Jedi
• Reign of the Empire
• Age of Rebellion
• The New Republic
• Rise of the First Order
• New Jedi Order

While almost all of the Star Wars eras have accompanying descriptions, the Dawn of the Jedi remains curiously blank. 

The term “Dawn of the Jedi” may not be familiar to Star Wars fans who have stuck to canon television shows, films, and video games. But against what some may think, the Dawn of the Jedi is not a new time period to Star Wars. In fact, it has existed for more than a decade. That period is the setting for a slew of comics and novels that are now part of Star Wars Legends continuity. Within Legends, the Dawn of the Jedi period ranged from 37,000 to 25,000 years before the events of Episode IV: A New Hope. 

The central text of the Dawn of the Jedi period in Legends is a comic book called Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi #0 by John Ostrander and Jan Duursema. Ostrander is a celebrated comic book writer, best known for his iconic runs on Suicide Squad, Martian Manhunter, and The Spectre for DC Comics. Published in 2012 by Dark Horse Comics, this one-shot laid the foundation for the Jedi, originally called Jed’aii, and their origin on the planet Tython. 

The first Jed’aii were a collection of Force-sensitive “warriors, scientists, philosophers, priests, and artisans” brought to Tython in eight ships called the Tho Yor. Tython was a planet with strong ties to the Force, providing the perfect training ground for the Jed’aii. They created eight temples on the planet. Each centered around a different purpose: Knowledge, Arts, Science, Healing, the Forge, Force Skills, Martial Arts, and Balance. At this time, the Jed’aii included some full-blooded Sith, a red-skinned alien species whose name those strong in the dark side would later appropriate.  

Dawn of the Jedi #0 also detailed the origins of lightsabers. An alien species called the Rakata, whose Infinite Empire sought out planets strong in the Force, created them first. They armed their scouts to these new worlds, called Force Hounds, with weapons called Forcesabers. These Forcesabers could only ignite through tapping into the dark side. They served as a prototype of the lightsabers that Jedi would later wield. 

Force Hounds would play an important role in the next phase of Dawn of the Jedi stories in comics. Ostrander and Duursema created three consecutive mini-series following Dawn of the Jedi #0 called Dawn of the Jedi: Force Storm, Dawn of the Jedi: The Prisoner of Bogan, and Dawn of the Jedi: Force War. This trilogy followed a Force Hound named Xesh, who was born into slavery and was raised by the Rakata. After meeting a group of Jed’aii, Xesh gradually devotes himself to learning the ways of the light side. 

Ostrander and Duursema’s comics are an important part of Star Wars history to return to now. Elements of Legends continuity are now officially canon thanks to Ahsoka, The Mandalorian, and The Rise of Skywalker. It is no easy feat to explain an enormous swath of Star Wars history. So why shouldn’t Ostrander’s writing and Duursema’s artwork be the basis for Star Wars’ Dawn of the Jedi period? At this point, Star Wars can no longer continue to ignore the stories that took fans where its films didn’t. Darth Revan’s return to canon is evidence of this movement.

Creating Legends may have given Disney a fresh slate to develop its sequel trilogy in. However, many Legends stories like Dawn of the Jedi have stood the test of time where Disney projects like The Rise of Skywalker haven’t. Either way, Ostrander and Duursema’s comics provided a moving foundation for the Star Wars franchise before Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm.

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Ahsoka Tano’s second encounter with Marrok appears to be their last. During Ahsoka‘s fourth episode, the former Jedi struck a fatal blow across the mysterious dark side user’s chest. The apparent end of the unknown Inquisitor’s story is also when it got really interesting. A burst of green smoke burst out of Marrok’s chest when he died. That strange moment points to why the Inquistor is named for an Arthurian knight transformed into a werewolf. Marrok’s death released the powerful dark magic that made the masked figure so powerful to begin with. Marrok was under the spell of Morgan Elsbeth, a Nightsister of Dathomir.

What Did the Green Smoke Coming Out of Marrok’s Chest Mean on Ahsoka?

Marrok is not the first Star Wars character to emit green smoke when they died. The first took place on The Clone Wars animated series. That’s when the ruling Nightsisters of the planet Dathomir, a coven of dark side using witches, were still among the most dangerous races in the galaxy. Their former leader, Mother Talzin, used one of the subservient Nightbrothers (a group that included Darth Maul) for revenge. Her powerful magic transformed Savage Opress into a monstrous, dark side using warrior. The double agent Savage was then sent off as to serve as Count Dooku’s apprentice in a plot to kill the Sith Lord.

Talzin’s magicks didn’t just imbue Savage with Force powers and uncontrollable hate. It also altered his physical body, turning him into a bigger, taller, stronger fighter. But when he died that Nightsister magic, which manifests as green smoke, left his body. By the time it vanished Savage’s corpse had reverted back to its original smaller form.

That’s not what happened when other Nightsisters and Nightbrothers died. Darth Maul didn’t emit green smoke magic when Obi-Wan Kenobi killed him on Star Wars Rebels. Nor did Nightsisters slain in battle on The Clone Wars. They all died normally. That expulsion of green magic only happens to those given Nightsister magic (which is rooted in what’s known as spirit ichor).

The green smoke that left Marrok’s body when he died was the work of Morgan Elsbeth. During the time of Ahsoka and the New Republic she is one of the few (only?) surviving Nightsisters left. It’s easy to see why the Imperial loyalist wanted her Force-using servant to be super powered. However, that doesn’t prove Marrok was also a Nightbrother like Savage.

Was Marrok a Nightbrother or Nightsister of Dathomir?

It’s unknown if a Nightsister can imbue a non-Dathomirian with magic the way Talzin did with Savage, but it doesn’t seem impossible. Nightsisters can use Spirit ichor to control outsiders, like when one possessed Sabine Wren on Rebels. While Elsbeth would likely have preferred to transform one of her own kind, there weren’t many Dathomirians left when the Empire rose to power and created the Inquisitor program.

Lucasfilm says Marrok was an Inquisitor during the Age of the Empire who began working as Elsbeth’s mercenary after the Empire’s collapse. We don’t know the exact timing of their partnership, though. Nor do we know how powerful Marrok was before he met Elsbeth. What’s not up for debate is that at some point she made him stronger than he had been and those magical abilities left him when Ahsoka struck him down.

So who was Marrok before Elsbeth transformed him? The dark side servant gets his name from a brave Athurian knight briefly turned into a werewolf with magic taught by a witch Morgan Elsbeth herself is named after. Does that mean Marrok the Inquisitor was a good person (Dathmorian or not) used as a witch’s weapon like Sir Marrok? Someone who already followed the dark side and was easy to control (like the one Dathmorian Inquisitor we already know about)? Or someone in-between, like disgraced Jedi Knight Barriss Offee who seemed like a perfect candidate to be under the mask before episode four?

The identity of Marrok wouldn’t seem to matter now that the Inquisitor is dead. Only Nightsister magic extends past life.

Could Marrok the Inquisitor Return as a Nightsister Zombie?

The Clone Wars revealed the Nightsisters’ spirits can not only return from beyond the grave, it also showed their magic can resurrect the dead to serve in a zombie army. Those reanimated corpses also manifest with green smoke that disappears when defeated. There’s nothing stopping Lady Morgan from returning to Seatos and raising Marrok from the dead to continue serving her.

(That, of course, is if Marrok really is dead. Even if that green smoke seems to indicate they’re dead, lightsabers to the chest don’t exactly mean certain death in Star Wars.)

But even if, as seems very possible, Marrok’s Star Wars story truly is over and we never learn anything more about who they were in life, their death showed exactly what Elsbeth is capable of. Like Mother Talzin, she can use sinister magic to create her very own dark side warrior. That’s terrifying enough on its own, but even more so when you remember she’s now on a very long journey with a prisoner the Nightsisters briefly had under their control once before.

Sabine Wren can’t use the Force right now, and she better hope that continues to be true. She might finally be able to with enough green magic.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter and  Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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Ahsoka‘s fourth episode delivered a moment Star Wars fans have longed to see. “Fallen Jedi” featured the first-ever live-action meeting of Ahsoka Tano and Anakin Skywalker. Their emotional reunion took place inside the mystical realm known as the World Between Worlds, a place of great importance to Ahsoka. But that encounter quickly took a turn towards the dark side when the Ahsoka episode ended with Darth Vader’s theme song. That “Imperial March” musical cue is a big clue that it’s not actually Anakin Skywalker who has come to visit Ahsoka in Ahsoka‘s episode four. He might be a trap laid by his own former Master.

Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker Returns on the Ahsoka Series

Hayden Christensen returned to the galaxy far, far away for a second time on a Disney+ Star Wars series. Just as we thought, Christensen followed his starring role on Obi-Wan Kenobi with an appearance on Ahsoka as Anakin Skywalker. Anakin was waiting for Ahsoka in the World Between Worlds, looking young and full-of-life rather than like the Sith Lord he became. His former Padawan had magically arrived in that realm—which exists outside of space and time—after falling from the ancient henge on Seatos.

Ahsoka knew her former Master was there when Christensen’s Anakin said, “Hey, Snips.” That was Anakin’s nickname for his “snippy” apprentice on The Clone Wars, where Ahsoka served as his Padawan until she quit the Jedi Order. Her decision to walk away from him is why Baylan Skoll blamed Ahsoka for what Anakin became.

It’s likely Ahsoka ended up in the World Between Worlds because of where she fell to what otherwise would have been her death. The Seatos henge is a mysterious temple built by an ancient people from far away. Its mystical nature points to it serving as portal to that Force-connected dimension. Anakin Skywalker’s appearance in that realm doesn’t mean Ahsoka is dead, either, even if he most certainly is.

Could Anakin Skywalker Be Alive Again in the Star Wars Universe?

The World Between Worlds is one of the most important locales in all of Star Wars. It’s also one of the least explored. (Check out our extensive deep dive on it.) That realm previously only appeared on one episode of Star Wars Rebels, and many of the specifics of how it works, how it can alter history, and how someone can use it remain a mystery.

What we do know about the World Between Worlds is still fascinating and full of untold possibility. It sits outside of space and time at the nexus of both. It’s possible to enter and exit it via magical doorways that can bring people to places and times throughout the galaxy (if not the whole universe). It’s a pathway to the past, present, and future. Palpatine also said it’s a pathway between life and death.

In Marc Sumerak’s 2021 book Star Wars: The Secrets of the Sith, Darth Sidious says the World Between Worlds is “a conduit between the living and the dead.”

Not only does that suggest Anakin Skywalker is not alive, but it makes way more sense if the legendary Jedi we saw on Ahsoka is dead. Anakin never knew about the World Between Worlds while a Jedi Knight. The only time he would have known of its existence was after becoming Darth Vader. He then died shortly after finding his way back to the light side of the Force, ultimately becoming a Force Ghost. Even with doorways to the past, there was no point in Anakin Skywalker’s life (especially during the Clone Wars when his hair looked that way), when he would have visited the World Between Worlds. If he had, it would fundamentally change his entire story and all of Star Wars. But there’s nothing preventing a Force Ghost from being there.

Since the Special Editions changed his Force Ghost from old man Anakin to young Hayden Christensen Anakin, it also makes sense he’d appear that way to Ahsoka inside the World Between Worlds. That would also explain why Anakin told Ahsoka, “I didn’t expect to see you so soon.” He’s dead and part of the Cosmic Force. He did not think his old Padawan would join him there for many more years because he knows when she actually will.

That’s what made that moment between Ahsoka and Anakin so heartwarming. Yoda, Obi-Wan, Luke Skywalker, and Qui-Gon Jinn have all appeared their former apprentices as Force Ghosts. It’s a Star Wars tradition to have dead Jedi return with another lesson when their student needs them. Only, this time the reunion with Anakin happened in a magical dimension of great importance to Ahsoka Tano, who almost certainly isn’t dead. It all made for a beautiful, powerful moment.

Those good feelings took a dark turn, though, when the end credits began to roll. That’s when an infamous music cue changed everything.

Ahsoka’s Anakin Skywalker May Not Be the Same One We Know

The Clone Wars animated series frequently used John Williams’ iconic “Imperial March” as an ominous musical motif. It played during moments when Anakin Skywalker fell to the dark side. Anytime the Jedi gave in to his anger or fear and violated his Jedi teaching, part of the song colloquially known as Darth Vader’s theme would play. It was a sign of the terrible person we all knew he’d become one day. But since Vader is long dead at this point, ending his live-action reunion with Ahsoka on that note is a terrifying sign this figure is not actually the Anakin she knew and loved. It’s not the only sign, either.

When Ezra Bridger and Ahsoka Tano first visited the World Between Worlds they saw an open portal to the moment when his Master, Kanan Jarrus, sacrificed his life to save his friends. Ezra wanted to pull Kanan out of harm’s way just as he had with Ahsoka moments before. Darth Vader would have killed Ahsoka years earlier had Ezra not pulled her into the World Between Worlds before the fatal blow.

Ahsoka convinced Ezra not to save Kanan because the Jedi Knight died saving Ezra’s life. If the Padawan interfered with that moment, he might have actually killed all of them. At minimum, intervening with that moment would have done untold damage to the past, present, and future.

Only, it seems like Ezra never could have saved Kanan. Once he opted not to rescue his master, the portal closed before quickly reopening to show Palpatine. He could not find his way into the World Between Worlds and was hoping to use Ezra to gain access. (He might have even shown Ezra Kanan’s death as a trap, meaning it was possibly nothing but a mirage.)

While the Emperor couldn’t enter the dimension himself, he did still attack Ezra and Ahsoka inside of it. He sent dark Force energy into the World Between Worlds and grabbed them. The two barely managed to escape and went back to their original portals and spots in the timeline.

Palpatine’s treachery showed the World Between World is like the Force itself. It’s not inherently good or bad and can be used for both. Loth-wolves and Jedi can use it to save lives, but Sith Lords can use it to attack enemies from across space and time. Palpatine was also desperate to get inside because he believed anyone who controlled the World Between Worlds would control everything, everywhere, forever.

So was that really Anakin Skywalker in Ahsoka or not? If it was, why play Vader’s music? Why did Obi-Wan Kenobi opt not to digitally de-age Hayden Christensen in his Anakin flashback, but Ahsoka did? (Whether or not Anakin was carrying his actual lightsaber during his meeting with Ahsoka is also up for debate. It’s impossible to tell just yet if he was.)

The evidence points towards his appearance being a dark lie. That raises yet other questions. If that wasn’t Anakin, who or what appeared before Ahsoka? A mirage? An impostor? A dark side trap? If so, who is behind it? There’s one prime candidate, the monster who is always behind everything. Darth Sidious—currently dead in Ahsoka‘s timeline—will return to the galaxy far, far away one day. He once tried to use the World Between Worlds for his own sinister purposes, why would he have given up trying to unlock the secrets to the one place that would make him all powerful forever? And just like before, he might have found a potential way in by preying on a Jedi Knight’s painful past. Ezra wanted to save Kanan just as Ahsoka wishes she could have Anakin.

Palpatine called it a conduit between the living and the dead, and the dead Emperor’s ultimate plan was to always cheat death.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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On the surface, it doesn’t seem like DC Comics’ Green Lantern mythology and the Star Wars saga have a ton in common, aside from both being space opera adventures. But upon closer inspection, both of these franchises have had incredible parallels, going back to their very beginnings. Was George Lucas influenced by Green Lantern comics when creating the Jedi, or coming up with Anakin Skywalker’s arc? Honestly, we’d say probably not. But nevertheless, the similarities are striking, And it’s been an ongoing thing for decades.

The Green Lantern Corps and the Jedi Order

In DC Comics lore, the Green Lantern Corps has been a peacekeeping force for literally hundreds of thousands of years. With their emerald power rings, they can channel energy from the Emotional Spectrum because of their innate willpower to create constructs and energy weapons. They draw their power from an energy that has existed since the dawn of creation. Also, they are usually paired with another Lantern, in a senior officer and rookie partnership. Every time they charge their rings, they take a solemn vow to the Corps, in the form of a spoken oath.

In Star Wars, the Jedi Order has also existed for thousands of generations, with a select few thousand acting as guardians of the peace for trillions of beings. Only a very select handful of sentient beings who can wield the Force had have allowance to train as Jedi. Similarly, potential Green Lanterns must be innately special for the ring to choose them. And not every sentient being can wield a ring, just as not every sentient being has an aptitude for the Force. Like the Lanterns, after initial training, they pair Jedi in a master/apprentice relationship. And like the Green Lanterns, they must also take a vow to the order. Of course, one of their own once decimated both the Lanterns and the Jedi Order, only for them to rebuild again.

Oa and Coruscant, the Bright Centers of the Galaxy

The home world of the Green Lantern Corps is the ancient planet Oa, the center of the known universe. There, the immortal Guardians of the Universe preside over their intergalactic representatives and issue orders to their Green Lanterns. Oa, in more recent comics, has also become the home of the United Planets, an intergalactic governing body. At the center of the Star Wars galaxy is Coruscant, which is home to the Jedi Temple and has been for centuries. The same Temple where the Jedi Council presides over its thousands of Jedi Knights, in a similar manner to Oa’s Guardians. Like Oa, Coruscant is also the seat of galactic government, first with the Republic, and later, the Empire.

The Fall of Hal Jordan, the Fall of Anakin Skywalker

The Star Wars saga centered on the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker. But we didn’t see his actual transition into Darth Vader until the prequels. But the Green Lantern comics gave their premiere ring wielder, Hal Jordan, almost the same arc as Anakin would have, over a decade earlier. The Guardians of the Universe considered Hal Jordan to be the greatest Green Lantern of all time, a gifted pilot even before he received the power ring. Eventually, though, things went very sour.

When an alien despot destroyed his hometown of Coast City, killing millions, Hal suffered an unbearable loss. And he wanted more power from the Green Lantern central battery to undo it all. When the Guardians denied him, telling him he must accept loss, he went on a rampage and killed almost the entire Green Lantern Corps. He siphoned all the power from the main battery on Oa, emerging as the villain Parallax. After a few years as a bad guy, he ultimately redeemed himself, and died saving the Earth during the Final Night event, reigniting a dying sun.

Sound familiar? Anakin Skywalker was already a great pilot when he became Jedi, and as the Chosen One, many considered him the most powerful Jedi ever. When he was asked to let go of loss by wiser Jedi, he decided he couldn’t, and needed more power to save his wife from death. He kills all the Jedi in their temple, and becomes Darth Vader. As we know, in his final act in Return of the Jedi, he ultimately redeemed himself. Of course, Hal Jordan’s dark side turn was later retconned as a possession. And Hal got to come back to life with a clean slate. But for over a decade, Hal Jordan was DC’s Anakin Skywalker analogue.

The “Last” Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner, and the “Last” Jedi, Luke Skywalker

When the Jedi Order fell, eventually one farm boy named Luke Skywalker picked up a lightsaber and embarked on a journey that would make him the last Jedi. But Luke Skywalker’s world-famous story was somewhat reflected in the Green Lantern comics of the early ‘90s, when a new, younger Lantern named Kyle Rayner became to the Green Lantern Corps what Luke Skywalker was to the Jedi Order — the last of his kind. Or, depending on your point of view, the first of a new kind of Jedi.

When Hal Jordan broke bad and destroyed the Corps, only one ring remained. The last Guardian went to Earth and gave the final power ring to a young slacker named Kyle Rayner. He became the “Torchbearer” for the whole Lantern Corps, the only Lantern left, much like how for years Luke was the last Jedi. Kyle even spent some time under the mentorship of former Lantern John Stewart, in an Obi-Wan/Luke-style relationship. He eventually reignited the Green Lantern Corps again after a decade. And he had an epic battle with Hal Jordan, who became his nemesis, much as Luke did with Vader. And thanks to some time-traveling adventures, Hal became like a father figure to Kyle, completing the Luke/Vader parallels.

Multi-Colored Power Rings, Multi-Colored Lightsabers

In the Green Lantern mythology, each color ring represents a different aspect of the Emotional Spectrum. Green is willpower/courage, while blue is hope, purple is love, and indigo is compassion. All of these same colors represent the lightsaber hues of members of the benevolent Jedi Order. And these are all emotions and attributes a Jedi must display. Of course, in the DC Universe, the different colored rings each have a separate corps of their own. And there is only one Jedi Order in Star Wars. But their colors match the “good guy” rings in the pages of DC Comics.

Meanwhile, the emotion of rage fuels the Red Lantern rings. In Star Wars, only a Sith wields crimson blades. But the emotion of rage powers both the Red Lanterns and the Sith. In the Green Lantern comics, greed fuels the orange power rings. In Star Wars: Ahsoka, we see our first orange lightsabers, held by mercenaries who were former Jedi. As mercenaries, they’re in it for the money, so we’d say orange sabers represent greed as well. In both DC and Star Wars, white and black power rings/lightsabers are coveted and rare, worn by few (or one). The only colored lightsaber that’s doesn’t really line up with a corresponding power ring is yellow. In Green Lantern comics, yellow represents fear. In Star Wars, Jedi Temple guards hold yellow sabers, as does Rey eventually.

Will we see more Green Lantern and Star Wars parallels in the future? If the past several decades have been any indication, we think the answer is a definite yes. In the comics, we’ve seen Green Lantern and Star Trek crossover. Here’s hoping we see some power rings ignite next to some lightsabers. How fun would that be?

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A Mandalorian Jedi created the Darksaber, but Mandalorians don’t have to be Force-sensitive to use that iconic weapon. Despite not having Force abilities, both The Clone Wars‘ Pre Vizsla and The Mandalorian‘s Bo-Katan wielded that one-of-a-kind lightsaber with deftness. That’s what Sabine Wren was learning to do on Star Wars Rebels before she gave the Darksaber away. But the first episodes of Ahsoka raised new questions about whether Sabine is actually a Force-user. It seems she did not merely resume her lightsaber training under Ahsoka Tano years ago, she briefly studied to become a Jedi. Does that mean Sabine Wren is Force-sensitive or that a non-Force user can become a Jedi?

Star Wars’ history doesn’t provide a definitive answer to either. What it does provide are intriguing possibilities for Sabine’s story that could change how we think about both the Jedi and the Force forever.

Was Sabine Wren Force-Sensitive on Star Wars Rebels?

Nothing on Star Wars Rebels indicated Sabine Wren is Force-sensitive. At least not the way Jedi and those like them are. The series seemed to confirm, in fact, that she is not Force-sensitive.

After she found the Darksaber, Sabine reluctantly agreed to train with it. Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus and his Padawan Ezra Bridger taught Sabine how to use her special lightsaber. It wasn’t easy. Kanan started her training with practice wood swords. That slow approach frustrated Sabine. When Kanan and Hera Syndulla discussed his decision to proceed cautiously, Hera questioned why he would use wooden swords with her when he never did with Ezra. Hera asked if the difference was because Kanan didn’t believe Sabine could learn “because she doesn’t have the Force.”

Kanan’s reply appeared to confirm Sabine is not Force-sensitive and he was merely teaching her how to use a lightsaber, not to become a Jedi. But his response also touched on an intriguing idea George Lucas made part of Star Wars lore from the very beginning.

Can a Non-Force User Still Use the Force?

When Hera questioned whether Kanan’s training methods had to do with Sabine not having Force abilities, he said no. But not for the reason you might expect. Kanan said of Sabine, “The Force resides in all living things, but you have to be open to it.”

That did not mean Sabine was/is Force sensitive. Kanan—who recognized Ezra’s strong Force-sensitivities instantly—was talking about a well-established concept that dates back to the franchise’s first film. In A New Hope Obi-Wan Kenobi tells Luke the Force is “an energy field created by all living things” that “surrounds us and penetrates us.” The Force “binds the galaxy together.”

Everyone and everything has the Living Force inside of them. Unlike everyone else, Force-users (thanks to high midi-chlorian counts) can access, control, and manipulate the Living Force. That ability is what gives Jedi their powers.

As Kanan’s answer implied, non Force-users like Sabine Wren can still connect with the Force. George Lucas himself has said as much as far back as 1981. He once compared the Force to (of all things) yoga, saying anyone can use it. In 2015 Dave Filoni further explained this idea when he said everyone is Force-intuitive. As an example of what that means practically, he pointed to Han Solo. What Han called “luck” while flying was him “tapping” into the Force unconsciously. Turns out you don’t survive an asteroid field on just chance and skill alone, because everyone can use the Force. They simply can never be as adept or as powerful doing so as a Force-sensitive, high midi-chlorian count individual.

Filoni also provided a comparison that explains this concept better than Lucas’ yoga analogy. Filoni likened this idea to someone who trains as a martial artist. They might earn a black belt, but they’ll never be Bruce Lee because they don’t have the natural traits needed to reach those heights. (He said Anakin is Bruce Lee when it comes to the Force.)

Have Any Non-Force Users Used the Force in Star Wars History?

The sequel trilogy and Rogue One both featured characters who exemplify this idea. Maz Kanata and Chirrut Îmwe seemed capable of low-level connections with the Force despite not being naturally Force-sensitive like Luke Skywalker or Rey. But, as Filoni said in 2015 when discussing Rebels, the franchise has “only scratched the surface” of what this means.

All of this brings us back to the main question raised by Ahsoka about Sabine Wren’s potential Force abilities. Did Ahsoka Tano train Sabine as a Jedi Padawan because she is Force-sensitive? Or because you don’t need to use the Force to become a Jedi? Star Wars Rebels pointed towards the latter, but the live-action series gave us reason to think Sabine is innately imbued with Force capabilities.

Did Ahsoka Prove Sabine Wren Is Force-Sensitive?

Just as Kanan once said Sabine wasn’t “open” to the Force, Ahsoka walked away from Sabine’s training for the same reason. She told Hera Sabine “wasn’t ready” to become a Jedi. Ahsoka made no mention of whether Sabine has innate Force abilities she won’t/can’t access, but training her as a Padawan in the first place would suggest she might truly be Force-sensitive even if Sabine says she “doesn’t feel it.” Training Sabine as a Jedi without her having any chance of using the Force would seem reckless of Ahsoka otherwise. It’s hard to imagine a non-Force using Jedi defeating a Sith Lord, for example. (The not-fully-trained Sabine losing a duel to Shin Hati showed why.)

The centuries-old Jedi lightsaber building droid Huyang also seemed to indicate Sabine has some Force-sensitivity. He told her in Ahsoka episode two that her “aptitude for the Force would fall far short” of every other Jedi Padawan he ever knew. Not what any student wants to hear, but that comment at least means Sabine has some aptitude for the Force. That would explain why Ahsoka took her on as Padawan. (It might also explain why Sabine can slide under a parked E-Wing on her speeder Akira-style at roughly 500 mph.)

That circumstantial evidence is obviously far from definitive proof, though. Not when Star Wars, George Lucas, and Dave Filoni have established anyone can access the Force on some level. (Without dark science, at least.) And Ahsoka‘s third episode also raised more questions about exactly what Ahsoka Tano hopes to accomplish with Sabine’s training. While she admitted “talent” has a lot to do with using the Force, she didn’t say a lack of talent was an impossible obstacle to overcome for Sabine. Focus and discipline are important, too. Ahsoka even cited Kanan’s comments about the Force living inside all things as a way to encourage her apprentice.

Except, something she told Huyang—who says the Jedi never would have accepted Sabine Wren as an apprentice—indicates she might not even be trying to train Sabine as a Jedi. Ahsoka Tano said she doesn’t need Sabine to become a Jedi; she needs her “to be herself.”

What exactly does that mean, and what does it have to do with Sabine’s Force capabilities? While we don’t yet know the level (or absence) of natural Force proclivities in Sabine Wren, whatever the answer to that question, it will be more important than any one character.

Why Does Sabine Wren’s Jedi Training Matter So Much?

Ahsoka wouldn’t train Sabine as a Jedi if she didn’t believe Sabine could join the ranks or at least learn to use the Force. So unless she’s flat-out wrong about what’s possible for a non-Force using Sabine to accomplish, there are two explanations for taking why she’d take her on as a Padawan.

If Sabine Wren has small levels of natural Force-sensitivities it lowers the threshold for who might become a Jedi someday. That could prove vital in a galaxy where the Order has only a handful of potential members, both now on Ahsoka and after Luke Skywalker’s death.

If Sabine has none but can still learn how to use the Force and become a Jedi (or something similar), it means anyone in the galaxy far, far away might be able to do the same. And if that’s true, the Force will no longer be the special purview of select individuals lucky enough to be born with high midi-chlorian counts. It will mean the Force will truly belong to everyone. Just as Obi-Wan Kenobi told us it does when we first heard about it.

Originally published on August 22, 2023.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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One of the great additions to Star Wars lore in the modern era has been the Imperial Inquisitors. But who are the Inquisitors exactly? Well, we first met these dark side warriors in the animated Star Wars Rebels, where they were the main antagonists for the crew of the Ghost. Essentially, the Inquisitors were former Jedi or Padawans who survived Order 66, but were then turned to the dark side by the Sith. Later, the Inquisitors were a major threat on the Disney+ Star Wars series Obi-Wan Kenobi, and another on the current Star Wars: Ahsoka.

Not quite Sith-level, the Empire uses the so-called “Red Blades,” almost like bloodhounds, to track down any surviving Jedi and kill them. It is unknown how many Imperial Inquisitors existed altogether in the Star Wars universe, but the number is believed to be 12. That’s an important figure in numerology, especially when it comes to pop culture, history, and literature (12 Olympian Gods, 12 Apostles, 12 Knights of the Round Table, etc). Aside from the Grand Inquisitor and Marrok, all of Star Wars’ Inquisitors are titled “Sister” or “Brother” alongside a number, making their count easy to track. Here is each member of the Imperial Inquisitorius, who they are, where they appear, and everything else that you should know about them.

The Grand Inquisitor

The first Inquisitor we meet is the head guy himself, The Grand Inquisitor. He appears in the opening scene of the first episode of Star Wars Rebels, taking orders from Darth Vader himself. We know more about him than most of his brethren. He was a Jedi Temple Guard before the Great Purge, a Pa’un by birth. Voiced by Jason Issacs on Rebels, he appeared in Obi-Wan Kenobi played by Rupert Friend.

The Second Sister

This Inquisitor first arrived in the Star Wars universe in Jedi: Fallen Order. She was the primary adversary for Cal Kestis, and was formerly the Jedi Padawan Trilla Suduri. After she and her master escaped Order 66, they hid for a brief time. But eventually, the Empire captured her, tortured her, and eventually brainwashed her into joining the dark side. She was a deadly Inquisitor until she showed some compassion. For that crime, Darth Vader killed her for her failure.

The Third Sister

Known as Reva, we met the Third Sister in episode one of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Actress Moses Ingram portrayed this Inquisitor. She operated approximately ten years after the Jedi Purge and had ambitions of becoming the Grand Inquisitor herself. Although on Obi-Wan Kenobi they say Reva came “from the gutter,” she was actually a former Jedi Padawan who went full dark side, after Darth Vader nearly killed her as child during Order 66.

The Fourth Sister

Also introduced in Obi-Wan Kenobi, we saw the Fourth Sister working alongside the Grand Inquisitor, the Third Brother, and the Third Sister. She was fairly silent, letting her fellow Inquisitors hog the spotlight. She doesn’t seem to be around during the time of Star Wars Rebels, so it’s possible she was killed before then.

The Fifth Brother

Originally introduced in season two of Rebels, the Fifth Brother is part of an unknown alien species. In that timeline, he frequently works together with his fellow Inquisitor the Seventh Sister, making life difficult for the crew of the Ghost. At the moment, we don’t know too many details about this Inquisitor’s backstory. Chronologically speaking, the Fifth Brother first appears in Obi-Wan Kenobi hunting Jedi on Tatooine. He eventually dies at the hands of Darth Maul on the planet Malachor on Rebels. Fast and the Furious star Sung Kang in Obi-Wan Kenobi plays the Fifth Brother.

The Sixth Brother

This member of the order was first introduced in the canon novel Ahsoka, and his true name is Bil Valen. (Yes, a lethal dark side warrior has the first name “Bil.”) He was a particularly brutal member of the order, accompanying Lord Vader on many missions to kill not only Jedi, but anyone Force-sensitive that could pose a threat. A former member of the Jedi Order, He eventually died at the hands of Ahsoka Tano, two years into Imperial rule.

Ahsoka also fought and killed another Inquisitor, who was not given a proper name or a designation, in the animated series Tales of the Jedi. Some fans believe he was meant to be The Sixth Brother. But his appearance does not match the one from the comics. Perhaps Ahsoka killed two distinct “Sixth Brothers” on different occasions? It’s a dangling mystery.

The Seventh Sister

After the death of the Grand Inquisitor at the end of Rebels season one, the Seventh Sister was the main antagonist in season two. A deadly member of the Mirialan species, the Seventh Sister was more cunning and calculating than her frequent partner, the Fifth Brother. She met her end at the hands of Darth Maul on the Sith world of Malachor, approximately three years before the Battle of Yavin IV. Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar played her, whose real life husband played her frequent foe, Jedi Kanan Jarrus. The Seventh Sister also appeared in several issues of Marvel’s Darth Vader series.

The Eighth Brother

We don’t know much about this Inquisitor. The Eighth Brother appeared briefly in season two of Rebels, fighting alongside the Seventh Sister and the Fifth Brother. He was a known “Terrelian Jango Jumper,” like the Seventh Sister and the Fifth Brother. This means he was “A tall, slender humanoid…known for [his] acrobatic abilities.” The Eight Brother faced his final fate at the hands of Kanan Jarrus, three years before the Battle of Yavin IV.

The Ninth Sister

This is another member of the Inquisitorius who debuted in the game Jedi: Fallen Order. This Imperial Inquisitor was a supporting villain to the Second Sister and had a similar and familiar origin story. Also once a Jedi Padawan, the Empire captured and tortured the Ninth Sister until she broke. She then succumbed to the dark side, becoming a powerful threat. It’s not entirely clear, but it appears she died at the hands of Jedi Cal Kestis in Fallen Order.

The Tenth Brother

Prosset Dibs was a Clone Wars-era Jedi, who fought alongside Mace Windu during the conflict. Surviving Order 66, Prosset Dibs became corrupted by the new Empire and joined the Inquisitors as Star Wars‘ Tenth Brother. The Tenth Brother first appeared in Marvel’s Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith comics, and he died when a Jedi Padawan convinced some old clone troopers to execute Order 66. Though the Tenth Brother cut ties with the Jedi Order, he was still a former Jedi, and thus was killed by the clones.

Have We Met the Final Inquisitors, Eleventh Sister and Twelfth Brother?

These two members of the Inquisitorius appeared only briefly in the pages of Darth Vader. Their names and designations are never officially given, but it can be assumed they are the “siblings” Eleventh Sister and Twelfth Brother. The Twelfth Brother is a Twi’lek, and the Eleventh Sister is a red-skinned humanoid. Whatever their backstories were, they broke the Inquisitorius’ rules and fell in love. This caused Vader to end their careers as Inquisitors and their lives.

Marrok

By the time of A New Hope, it appeared all the Inquisitors were gone. Or were they? In Star Wars: Ahsoka, a mysterious former Inquisitor has appeared, named Marrok. They are working as a mercenary for former Jedi Baylon Skoll, and carrying a classic Inquisitor saber. We know nothing of Marrok’s true identity under their mask, although we have our theories. Interestingly, the official Star Wars site does not give Marrok’s former “number.” Did Marrok replace one of the previously mentioned dead Inquisitors years ago? The Jedi evaded extinction, why couldn’t Marrok? We have a feeling there’s a lot more to know about this latest member of the dark side warriors.

Originally published on June 2, 2022.

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Star Wars Rebels‘ Sabine Wren made the crossover to live-action on Ahsoka, but she made her mark on the galaxy far, far away long ago. Both literally and figuratively. The legendary Mandalorian warrior and hero of the Rebellion is also the artist who inspired the galaxy’s greatest symbol of hope. Who is Sabine Wren? Why did she once serve the Empire she helped bring down? And why does her past always seem to haunt her? Here’s everything we knew about Sabine Wren before Ahsoka along with everything we’ve learned about her from the show. (Which we’ve included at the end in case you’re not caught up and want to avoid spoilers.

What Star Wars Planet Is Sabine Wren From?

Star Wars‘ Sabine Wren was born on Mandalore to Ursa and Alrich. She is also the older sister to her brother Tristan. Sabine considers Clan Wren’s ancestral planet Krownest to be her other homeworld.

Sabine Wren’s mother Ursa was a member of Death Watch, the terrorist group who wanted to return Mandalore to its traditional warrior ways. Her father Alrich was an artist. Both had a tremendous influence on their daughter.

Who Voiced Sabine Wren on Star Wars Rebels?

Tiya Sircar voiced Sabine Wren on Star Wars Rebels.

How Did Sabine Wren Betray Mandalorians While an Imperial Cadet?

Sabine joined Mandalore’s Imperial Academy as a child. She initially believed in the Empire and was one of the Academy’s top cadets. Sabine Wren’s dedication only began to waver when she started learning about the actions of Cham Syndulla (father of Hera) and Mandalorian Protector leader Fenn Rau during the Clone Wars.

Any remaining loyalty Sabine had to the Empire ended when it began testing her own invention against Mandalorians. Sabine’s Arc Pulse Generator, a superweapon she dubbed the Duchess, could incinerate sacred Mandalorian beskar steel and anyone wearing it. When the Empire used it on her own people, Sabine Wren damaged the Duchess and unsuccessfully tried to destroy its blueprints. She then defected from the Empire, but her family did not.

Why Did Sabine Wren’s Family Banish Her?

Sabine left the Empire behind, but Clan Wren did not. After Sabine’s defection her family banished her and remained loyal to the Galactic Empire. However, their commitment did not garner them any favors.

The Empire forced House Wren to answer for Sabine’s actions. The planet’s Imperial Viceroy, Gar Saxon, took Sabine’s father as hostage while her mother was called on to prove her family’s loyalty in service. And Sabine’s brother was made to join Saxon’s Imperial Super Commandos.

How Did Sabine Wren Join the Ghost on Star Wars Rebels?

Without a home or a family to rely on, Sabine started working as a Star Wars bounty hunter with a friend. The two talked about joining an underworld criminal organization together, but ultimately went their separate ways. That eventually led to 16-year-old Sabine joining the Ghost, a Rebel cell known as the Spectres.

Kanan Jarrus recruited the young Mandalorian with a fondness for graffiti art into the group. At the time of Sabine Wren’s joining, the Ghost crew consisted of Captain Hera Syndulla, the astromech droid Chopper, and the Lasat warrior Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios. Young Ezra Bridger would eventually follow Sabine’s path and become a crew member.

Sabine’s past meant she didn’t like to take orders blindly, but her ability to focus on a mission, resourcefulness, improvisational skills, and Mandalorian training made her an invaluable member of the Ghost. As did her work with explosives.

How Did Sabine Get Along With Her Fellow Spectres?

Sabine Wren was strong-willed, independent, and preferred to keep to herself. The group’s loner was also sassy and troubled by her past, but Sabine was fiercely loyal and protective of her fellow Spectres, especially Ezra. The two friends frequently tried to one-up the other.

While Sabine often trained and ate alone, she always expressed herself through art. She had a fondness for spray painting drab Imperial machines with bright colors during missions, as both a form of personal expression and as a defiant act celebrating freedom. She even turned herself into a canvas, often changing her hair color and painting her beskar armor, which she said felt like a second skin to her.

The ubiquity, beauty, and spirit of Sabine Wren’s art even inspired the galaxy’s symbol of hope.

When Did Sabine Wren Create Star Wars‘ Rebel Logo?

Sabine drew her personal trademark, the starbird, throughout the galaxy as both a signature of her art and a symbol of freedom. Eventually, the growing Rebellion, which transformed from a collection of independent cells into a unified movement, used Sabine Wren’s starbird as the basis for the Rebel Alliance logo.

Why Didn’t Sabine Wren Want to Wield the Darksaber?

The Rebel Alliance logo isn’t the only important symbol connected to Sabine Wren. She also found the Darksaber, Mandalore’s iconic lightsaber, on Darth Maul’s home planet. Sabine eventually relented and let Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger train her in how to use the weapon that symbolized Mandalore’s power. She also had help from Fenn Rau, whom she had recruited to the Rebel cause.

But Sabine never felt totally comfortable possessing the Darksaber or with the idea of leading her people. Instead, she turned her anger, frustration, and sadness about her own past actions into motivation.

How Did Sabine Reconcile With her Family?

Sabine’s Darksaber training led her to return to her family on Krownest. At first, her mother betrayed her to Gar Saxon in exchange for Sabine’s life. When the Viceroy ordered Clan Wren’s destruction anyway, a fight broke out. It ended with Sabine defeating him. Sabine refused to kill him, but Ursa took matters into her own hands when Gar Saxon tried to murder Sabine. After that, Clan Wren welcomed their prodigal daughter back and abandoned the Empire (though they still refused to join the Rebellion at that point). Sabine then left her fellow Spectres to stay behind with Fenn Rau to try and help unify Mandalore.

Eventually, the Ghost returned to ask for Clan Wren’s assistance in a mission against the Empire. When Sabine defied her mother to help her friends Ursa relented and sent aid. When Sabine returned to her people a new bond had formed between Clan Wren and the Rebellion, but Mandalore remained House Wren’s focus.

That’s eventually how Sabine learned the Empire had rebuilt the Duchess. They then began using it against rebelling Mandalorians, who considered Sabine Wren a traitor when they learned she’d designed the monstrous machine. Sabine got back into their good graces when she fought with them and was able to alter the weapon to target stormtrooper armor instead.

With the Arc Pulse Generator destroyed for good, Sabine then helped reunite all Mandalorians. She gave the Darksaber to Bo-Katan Kryze who became Mandalore’s ruler once more. After Sabine returned to the Ghost.

Why Did Ezra Bridger Task Sabine Wren With Finding Him in Star Wars Rebels?

Star Wars Rebels‘ final battle saw the Ghost fighting against the Imperial blockade of Lothal. It ended when Jedi Ezra Bridger called on purrgil to whisk both him and Grand Admiral Thrawn deep into the Unknown Regions of the universe. Ezra Bridger didn’t reveal his plans to his fellow Spectres before he carried it out, but he did leave a message behind for all of them.

That included a short note from Ezra meant for Sabine. “Don’t forget, I’m counting on you,” he said. It took Sabine Wren awhile to figure out exactly what Ezra Bridger meant, but after Emperor Palpatine’s death she finally knew what Ezra was telling her. He was counting on her to find him. And in the animated show’s final moments, after Sabine looked over a mural she’d painted of her Ghost family, she set out with Ahsoka Tano to locate Ezra.

Years after Star Wars Rebels ending, Ezra was still missing at the start of Ahsoka.

Who Plays Live-Action Sabine Wren on Ahsoka?

Natasha Liu Bordizzo stars as the live-action Sabine Wren on Ahsoka, which premiered at Disney+ on August 23, 2023.

What Has Ahsoka Revealed About Sabine Wren’s Life After Star Wars Rebels?

Sabine Wren and Ahsoka Tano did not set out to find Ezra Bridger just as friends and colleagues. Ahsoka revealed they also became Master and Padawan, as the former Jedi took Sabine on as her Padawan. At some point, though, Ahsoka walked away from Sabine’s training. She said her apprentice wasn’t ready.

Sabine then returned to Lothal where she continued living in Ezra’s abandoned communication’s tower. There she served as a commander revered by the people as a great hero of the planet and Rebellion. Sabine Wren did not became any less willful with age, however. During a ceremony celebrating Ezra Bridger’s sacrifice Sabine disappeared rather than give a speech. Lothal Governor Azadi’s attempts to force her to show up proved unsuccessful.

Ahsoka Tano’s discovery of a star map pointing to the potential location of Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ezra Bridger then led to her to reconnect with Sabine Wren, which Hera Syndulla pushed for. It also led Ahsoka to resume training Sabine (now sporting a much shorter hairstyle) as a Jedi Padawan. But Sabine’s renewed apprenticeship raised major questions about whether she has any Force-sensitivities and therefore if she she’s even capable of becoming a Jedi.

Did Ahsoka Reveal Sabine Wren Is Force-Sensitive?

Star Wars Rebels seemed to make clear Sabine Wren is not Force-sensitive. At least not the way Force-users are. It indicated she only has the Force within her the way all living things do. Ahsoka has now completely upended that presumption and raised major questions about the Force, the Jedi, and who can use it. The answer to those questions will have ramifications that go well beyond Sabine Wren.

While Huyang the droid said Sabine is the least skilled, least capable Jedi apprentice he’s ever met, that doesn’t mean she can’t become a Jedi. He also encouraged her to resume her training and stop wasting time. He’s skeptical she will ever be able to use the Force, but according to Ahsoka she can with enough training and dedication. If Sabine does Ahsoka Tano says she might ultimately become something different than a Jedi.

Wherever Sabine’s training leads her, if it results in her learning to use the Force despite her lack of natural talent it will fundamentally change who else can become a Jedi. It will mean the Force is no longer limited to those lucky enough to be born with high midi-chlorian counts.

If anyone can break that glass Force ceiling it’s Sabine Wren. She has always had a knack for making her mark on the galaxy far, far away.

This post originally published on August 7, 2023.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. Also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

The post Everything You Need to Know About AHSOKA’s Sabine Wren appeared first on Nerdist.

Ahsoka’s third episode wasn’t especially long. It didn’t feature any Alderaan-shattering plot developments, either. Yet it stands as one of the most significant chapters in the galaxy far, far away’s story. The existence of multiple old intergalactic hyperspace lanes the Jedi Order’s awareness of them is a new piece of Star Wars lore with monumental implications for the franchise’s past and future.

The first two episodes of Ahsoka introduced a star map for the Pathway to Peridea. Thought to be nothing but a “fairy tale” told by younglings, it’s an intergalactic road Morgan Elsbeth believes will lead to the lost Grand Admiral Thrawn. She also opened that map on Seatos at a temple built by “ancient people from a distant galaxy.”

Those tantalizing facts were monster developments on their own. Not just for the show but the entire franchise. It expanded the scope of Star Wars to a whole other galaxy. That kind of intergalactic connection has not been explored in a meaningful way since the old, pre-Disney Expanded Universe. Like all of those stories, almost every former extra-galactic place and people—especially the notorious invaders known as Yuuzhan Vong—are no longer canon. They’re all officially designated as Legends. Only, the significance of Ahsoka‘s third episode is far grander than any would-be conquerors from a distant galaxy could ever have been.

Ahsoka and Sabine’s discovery of the Eye of Sion allowed Huyang to scan the massive craft and learn its purpose. It’s an enormous hyperspace ring built on a scale never seen before. It’s outfitted to hold six gigantic hyperdrive engines. With those kind of power levels and configuration Huyang says the Eye of Sion is “capable of a hyperspace jump of astonishing speed and distance.” It will still need something else to be of any use, however. Hyperspace travel is only possible on safe, clear, established hyperspace lanes. Without them, your ship can (and likely will) careen into a celestial body, star, or black hole. Until Ahsoka, those lanes basically only existed within the self-contained galaxy far, far away. (Still a pretty massive place!)

Now, we know the Pathway to Peridea is not the only road to a distant galaxy out there. Huyang, a 25,000-year-old droid who has served the Jedi for thousands of years, said the Jedi Archives “speak of intergalactic hyperspace lanes” plural. He also said they’re all based on the migration paths of purrgil, which inspired hyperspace travel in the first place.

It’s no exaggeration to say the existence of multiple intergalactic hyperspace lanes and Jedi awareness of them is one of the most important revelations in Star Wars‘ history. It means the galaxy far, far away has its own galaxies far, far away, and they have their own stories from a long time ago. And these galaxies are all intimately connected in ways that could upend everything we know about Star Wars‘ primary realm, where it comes from, where it might one day go, and why the Force is so prevalent there.

The questions raised by this ancient piece of information are almost too numerous to ponder. What kind of influence did intergalactic visitors have on the early events of Star Wars galaxy and vice versa? How many of them stayed and lived in another galaxy once they arrived? What did they bring with them? How might their own histories connect with the Force and Jedi understanding of it?

Just as importantly, when and why did people in the galaxy far, far away stop using them? Why did travelers from other galaxies stop arriving, too? If the Jedi knew about them, wouldn’t they have wanted to explore new worlds with new knowledge? What or who did they fear? Why did the Jedi allow knowledge of these lanes to become a fairy tale only a witch knows is real?

The Jedi Order dates back roughly 25,000 years, same as Huyang. Is that when an ancient people from a distant galaxy built the temple on Seatos, the place where Morgan Elsbeth heard Thrawn calling out to her from across space and time? Is it even older? What connections might the Jedi have with that temple? The Nightsisters of Dathomir? The Force? The closure of intergalactic hyperspace lanes? The World Between Worlds? The Mortis Gods?

And what might this all mean for a moment on Andor that previously felt like a fun Easter egg but now seems far more relevant? The show featured a Kuati Signet made of kyber crystal from “the ancient world” that Luthen Rael treasures. He said it celebrates “the uprising against Rakatan invaders,” an important imperial race from Knights of the Old Republic video games. Are those memorable Legends figures being repurposed, as so many other old EU characters have been, as intergalactic conquerors in Disney-era canon? What if Thrawn met them in Peridea and wants to have them return with him?

There’s so much we don’t know, including what kind of answers about this new information Ahsoka will ultimately explore and provide in detail. The show might very well not give us much more information than it already has. But we do know those intergalactic lanes have changed Star Wars forever. It’s epic tale is now, and has been, so much bigger than just one galaxy. For a story that happened a long time ago, the possibilities for where it might one day take us has never been bigger.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on  Twitter and  Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

The post Why AHSOKA’s Intergalactic Hyperspace Lanes Changed STAR WARS Forever appeared first on Nerdist.

Ahsoka is quietly bringing in elements of Star Wars’ Legends continuity never seen before in live-action. The first two episodes of Ahsoka have made subtle references to the Old Republic period. This gestures at a greater sense of a historical timeline within the Star Wars canon that future projects can follow up on. For fans frustrated by Star Wars’ focus on canonical stories lately, the return of Legends characters, events, and themes marks a hopeful future for the franchise. 

The merging of Legends lore with Star Wars’ canon television shows is an unexpected development. In 2014, after Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm, they removed existing novels, video games, comic books, and other non-mainline Star Wars films or the 3D animated Clone Wars television show from canon. Disney placed them under a new banner called “Legends.” With old stories out of the way, Disney was free to construct their sequel trilogy and new slate of video games, comic books, and novels without any burdens. While some characters, like the cyborg bounty hunter Beilert Valance, have managed to cross over from Legends into canon media, there are still hundreds of unused characters waiting in the wings.

The creation of Legends purged considerable portions of the historical timeline before and after the Skywalker Saga in the Star Wars universe. Legends had stories ranging from 37,000 years before Episode IV: A New Hope, to at least 140 years after Episode IV. There were wars and important origin stories that helped elucidate the political climate of the Skywalker Saga and beyond. While many Legends novels and comics are still in print today, the loss of their canonical status dealt a heavy blow to longtime fans. These stories sustained their love of the franchise for decades. 

As a result, one problem for Star Wars under Disney has been the historical vacuum that the films, television shows, and video games take place in. Star Wars has always chronicled a political struggle and its effects on people throughout the galaxy, but the status quo of these conditions certainly arise from something. Just a cursory glance at history will reveal that the past often luminates the future, no matter how distant. This is precisely what drove scores of writers and storytellers to construct these narratives in Legends to begin with. 

But now, with Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) making the jump to live-action, Star Wars has increasingly sprinkled elements of Legends into official canon, perhaps to remedy this problem. The Old Republic, originally in Legends, spanned 5,000 to 67 years before the events of Episode IV. One of the most important stories set during the Old Republic was the 2003 video game, Knights of the Old Republic. It introduced Darth Revan, a human Sith who later reformed himself as a Jedi. Also important to note that Revan quietly joined canon in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary. As it turns out, elements of Knights of the Old Republic and its novel spinoff, The Old Republic: Revan by Drew Karpyshyn, are making their way into official Star Wars canon. 

Ahsoka begins with the former Jedi fighting a team of fearsome droids, later revealed to be the HK class of droids in episode 2 (“Toil and Trouble”). The show goes as far as to confirm that the HK class are “assassin droids.” While Ahsoka and Hera’s (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) conversation at the shipyard may seem ordinary, it officially canonized the HK droids from Knights of the Old Republic. Fans will remember the droid HK-47, an ally of Revan with a comically homicidal personality. Ahsoka’s HK droids look considerably different from that of Knights’s, but it’s a design choice that makes sense. HK-47 originates at least 3,954 years before A New Hope.  

The confirmation of HK droids in Ahsoka also affirms their previous, unnamed appearance in season 2 of The Mandalorian. In episode 5 of the season (“The Jedi”), HK droids are bodyguards for Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto). Coincidentally, Morgan mentions to Ahsoka in the episode that Mandalorians and Jedi have historically been enemies. This fact refers to the Mandalorian Wars outlined in Knights of the Old Republic and Revan. 

The Mandalorian Wars are another vital piece of Old Republic Legends lore. The combatants were the Jedi and the united Mandalorian clans, whose leader, Mandalore the Ultimate, had attacked the Republic. The war ended in a bitter defeat for the Mandalorians. They became leaderless and splintered across the galaxy after Revan hid the central symbol of their culture, the Mask of Mandalore. As the Revan novel explains, the Mandalorian culture never recovered from this loss. With this historical context in mind, the effects of the Mandalorian Wars certainly help to explain the state of Mandalorian culture in The Mandalorian. 

Ahsoka Tano’s live-action counterpart has ushered in a slew of elements from the Old Republic into official Star Wars canon. Considering no canon movie, television show, or video game takes place during anywhere near the time of the Old Republic, Ahsoka is paving the way for an essential part of Star Wars history to be canonized. This is especially important considering that next year’s Star Wars show, The Acolyte, will be set during The High Republic. The High Republic, the period before the prequel trilogy, has some chronological overlap with the Old Republic, as defined by the Legends timeline.

Could some of the Old Republic threads left by Ahsoka be followed up on in The Acolyte? Only time will tell. Given the trail of hints in Ahsoka and The Mandalorian, if fans wish to know what lies ahead in the future for Star Wars, perhaps they should look to the past. 

The post AHSOKA Makes STAR WARS’ Old Republic More Important Than Ever appeared first on Nerdist.

“Names have a purpose. If you know someone’s full name in folklore then you have a power over them, because to know their name gives you an understanding of who they are.”

That’s how Dave Filoni described the meaning and purpose behind important names on Star Wars Rebels in 2015. It’s an idea he clearly still believes in now. His new series Ahsoka features many characters with monikers inspired by mythology. What kind of “understanding” does that give us about Ahsoka‘s world? It turns out these connections to myth and legend offer quite a bit of insight. Here are all the references to Norse, Ancient Greek, and Arthurian legends and myths we spotted in Ahsoka.

Jump to: Morgan Elsbeth References Morgan le Fey // Marrok Connects to Arthurian Legend // Ahsoka‘s Skoll and Hati Hail From Norse Mythology // Star Wars Rebels Connections to Myths and More

Ahsoka‘s Morgan Elsbeth Is Named After Morgan le Fay of Arthurian Legend

Now that we learned on Ahsoka that Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth is a Nightsister of Dathomir, there’s no doubt she’s named after another famous witch, Lady Morgan le Fay of Arthurian Legend. Originally a benevolent figure, Morgan le Fay’s portrayal evolved over time. In legend, Morgan le Fay was said to be the sister of Arthur and capable of flying and transforming herself into other shapes. Eventually, the powerful sorceress became a more morally ambiguous character and sometimes a direct antagonist of the King.

Thanks to her connections with Grand Admiral Thrawn, Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth would appear to be based more on the later versions of Morgan le Fay. But all hope is not lost for those who love the Nightsisters of Dathomir. Morgan le Fay remains an intriguing character centuries later because she was capable of both good and evil. Maybe Morgan Elsbeth is, too.

Ahsoka‘s Marrok Is Named After an Arthurian Knight Turned Into a Werewolf

The mysterious masked Inquisitor Marrok working for Morgan Elsbeth is Ahsoka‘s second major connection to Arthurian legend and myth. In a tale set during “the days of King Arthur,” we learn that Sir Marrok was an upstanding Knight until his own wife Irma turned him into a werewolf, seeking to return his lands to their old ways of savagery. And where did Irma learn such skills? From Morgan le Fay.

We’ve think Marrok might be Bariss Offee, a former Jedi Knight who turned to the dark side. Some think Marrok might be Ezra Bridger himself under the spell of Morgan Elsbeth. There was even another Marrok in Star Wars previously. The Clone Wars featured a bounty hunter named Embo who had a werewolf-like pet of his own named Marrok. Dave Filoni himself voiced Embo on the show. Did he turn his character’s pet into reverse Sir Marrok, making a wolf into a knight of darkness?

The identity of Ahsoka‘s Marrok is yet unknown. And even if literally no wolves appear, the namesakes of Ahsoka‘s characters seem to point to Morgan Elsbeth turning a character to darkness in her quest to return Thrawn and the dark side to power. No matter who is under the Inquisitor’s mask, though, their story will have connections to Arthurian legend.

Ahsoka‘s Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati are Named After Wolves in Norse Mythology

Ahsoka‘s former Jedi Knight Baylan Skoll and his apprentice Shin Hati get their names from Norse mythology. Skoll (“One Who Mocks”) and Hati (“One Who Hates”) are ominous figures in Norse tradition. They’re wolves who chase the Sun and Moon in hopes of devouring them. Legend says they will also be present at Ragnarok, the end of the world. According to Norse mythology, that is when Skoll and Hati will finally track down and consume their prey, plunging Earth into darkness.

Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati, who embrace the dark side of the Force, are helping Morgan Elsbeth. They’re tracking down Thrawn in a distant land. If Skoll and Hati can complete their Ahsoka quest and help Thrawn return, then like in Norse Mythology, their victory could herald a new era of darkness in the galaxy far, far away and destroy the New Republic. We’d also feel interested to know if Hati specifically hates anyone on Ahsoka, as mythology suggests.

Skoll and Hati’s names and roles on Ahsoka situate them (and Marrok) as the opposite of Force-sensitive Loth-wolves. Those mystical creatures introduced on Star Wars Rebels serve as couriers to the World Between Worlds. That nexus of space and time is not only one of the franchise’s most important locales. It played a major role in the pasts of both Ahsoka Tano and Ezra Bridger. It might also be the key to Thrawn returning, stopping him, or both. Like Morgan le Fay, the World Between Worlds is neither inherently good or bad.

Star Wars Rebels Character Names and Their Mythological and Biblical Connections

In addition to the many new connections Ahsoka forms with mythology and legend, it also inherits some references from Star Wars Rebels.

Quick Rebels References

Hera Syndulla – The motherly Hera is named after the Greek goddess of women, childbirth, and marriage. Echoing her mythological counterpart, Hera Syndulla is the motherly figure in the Star Wars Rebels crew, a role we see her continue to play in Ahsoka.

Sabine Wren – Sabine Wren, a Mandalorian who grew up under tyrannical Imperial rule, gets her name from the Roman myth the Abduction of the Sabine women.

Ezra Bridger – Ahsoka‘s missing Jedi’s name comes from the Biblical priest. Ezra means “helper” and “protector,” which is what the Jedi did when he sacrificed himself to save his friends and people.

(His last name Bridger also could take on new meaning since Ezra appears lost in a galaxy that has a bridge—the Pathway of Peridea—between it and Star Wars‘ own.)

Morai’s Mythological Connections May Be Crucial to Ahsoka

Though the owl-like Morai has yet to appear on Ahsoka, its mythology-sourced name feels more relevant than ever. Morai is connected to Mortis and the Daughter (the embodiment of the light side of the Force), the World Between Worlds, and Ahsoka Tano. The bird, Ahsoka’s companion, guided both her and Ezra in the World Between Worlds. It also appeared on a painting that served as a portal for Ezra Bridger to go there.

Ahsoka‘s Morai is named after Greek mythology’s Moirai, better known as the Fates. In Ahsoka’s second episode, Morgan Elsbeth’s told Baylan Skoll she’s confident she now knows where Thrawn is because the “threads of fate do not lie.” The Daughter of Mortis was also one three figures, same as the Fates. And, as mentioned above, Sir Marrok’s wife, Irma, saved herself from her (once-again) human husband by drinking a potion that transformed her into an owl.

Is that all just a big coincidence? That’s not what Dave Filoni wants us to think. There’s power in knowing what these names mean.

Jump to: Morgan Elsbeth References Morgan le Fey // Marrok Connects to Arthurian Legend // Ahsoka‘s Skoll and Hati Hail From Norse Mythology // Star Wars Rebels Connections to Myths and More

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

The post Every AHSOKA Connection to Mythology and Arthurian Legend appeared first on Nerdist.

After many false starts and canceled projects, Star Wars is finally ready to return to theaters. Lucasfilm announced three new upcoming standalone movies during the opening of Star Wars Celebration 2023. These new Star Wars movies include a story about the founding of the Jedi, a movie that will serve as the finale to this era of interconnected Disney+ shows, and the return of Daisy Ridley’s Rey.

And with that, the galaxy far, far away is finally going back to the big screen. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy revealed James Mangold (Logan, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny), Dave Filoni (The Mandalorian, Ahsoka), Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Ms. Marvel, Saving Face) have all been tapped to direct these new Star Wars movies.

While Lucasfilm shared few official details about the films, the little they tell us says a lot.

James Mangold’s New Star Wars Movie Tells the Story of the Force

James Mangold’s “will go back to the dawn of the Jedi,” a time set tens of thousands of years earlier than anything we’ve ever seen on screen before. That might mean we’ll meet the figure known as Prime Jedi. That’s the person who founded the Order on Ahch-To sometime around 25,000 years before the events of A New Hope. Fans already know Ahch-To well. They first saw it in The Last Jedi when it served as Luke Skywalker’s hideaway. A release additionally shares, “James Mangold will take audiences deep into the past, telling the tale of the first Jedi to wield the Force and harness it as a liberating power in an era of chaos and oppression.”

Mangold further noted to Empire that his new Star Wars movie “takes place 25,000 years before Episode IV, and it’s about the discovery of the Force.” He further shares, “I told Kathy [Kennedy, head of Lucasfilm] I wanted to make a kind of Bible movie, a kind of Ten Commandments of Star Wars – kind of a Cecil B DeMille film about the arrival of the Force, and that’s what I’ve been pecking away at between press events. That’s the idea.”

James Mangold’s New Star Wars Movie Connects with Rey’s Next Appearance

Kennedy also recently shared that this movie will help inform the new Star Wars movie featuring the return of Rey. She noted to Total Film, “I think it’s a really nice compliment to what we’re doing with moving into the future with Rey, and then understanding a bit more of where this all came from,” she explains. “Because it will be at the heart of creating the new Jedi Order, so to get a real sense of where that might have began with the dawn of the Jedi could be pretty cool.” 

According to a new official Star Wars eras list revealed by LucasFilm, this movie will most likely take place in the “Dawn of the Jedi” era, but could even take place earlier than that.

Dave Filoni’s Film Will Bring Together Many Current Disney+ Series

The next new Star Wars movie will come from franchise veteran Dave Filoni. His film “will focus on the New Republic and close out the interconnected stories told in The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and other Disney+ series.” That’s huge news for both the television and movie side of Lucasfilm. When we get a release date for Filoni’s film, we’ll know just how many more seasons of The Mandalorian we might see. Clearly, there’s already an end in sight to Din Djarin and Grogu’s story. Although, we suppose they could continue on beyond a culminating movie. A release further shares, “Dave Filoni will orchestrate the escalating war between the Imperial Remnant and the fledgling New Republic.”

Rey Will Return in Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s Star Wars Movie

The third and final new Star Wars movie announced will focus on the future. Obaid-Chinoy’s movie will take place after The Rise of Skywalker. It will mark the return of Daisy Ridley as Rey. Set 15 years after the ultimate defeat of the Sith, she will be trying to build a new Jedi Order. Hopefully, that goes a lot better than her mentor Luke Skywalker’s attempts. According to the new list of Star Wars eras, it seems like this movie will take place in the “New Jedi Order” era.

Kathleen Kennedy shared more about the movie with Variety. She noted:

Well, we’re 15 years out from ‘Rise of Skywalker,’ so we’re post-war, post-First Order, and the Jedi are in disarray. There’s a lot of discussion around, ‘Who are the Jedi? What are they doing? What’s the state of the galaxy?’ She’s attempting to rebuild the Jedi Order, based on the books, based on what she promised Luke, so that’s where we’re going.”

Speaking to Empire, Kennedy added, “The First Order has fallen, the Jedi are in chaos – there’s even a question of how many exist anymore – and Rey’s building the New Jedi Order, based on the text that she was given and that Luke imparted on her.” She also offers, “Rey has made a promise to Luke, and that’s really the core of where we’re going and what this story will be. And I think it offers just tremendous opportunity to introduce new characters and start with something fresh, because we culminated with what George [Lucas] was creating, and now we take all of that and move it to the next chapter.” 

On the topic of a possible Luke Skywalker presence in the new Star Wars movie, Kennedy said: “I don’t know if we’ll spend a lot of time in flashbacks or [on] Force ghosts or things like that, but certainly, the spirit of what he represents to her is going to be significant.”

Something tells us it won’t be smooth sailing for Rey, though. The dark side of the Force has a way of always creating shadows over the galaxy far, far away, especially in theaters.

Originally published on April 7, 2023.

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Star Wars marks years according to when the Rebels blew up the first Death Star. Anything that happened before is designated as BBY, Before the Battle of Yavin. ABY is anything after. But while we know the franchise’s latest installment, Ahsoka, takes place in roughly 10 ABY, galactic years are not the only way to keep track of time in the galaxy far, far away. There are also distinct time periods. Now, with so many shows set during different ones, Star Wars has given us an updated account of all its eras, each with an official logo.

While this list will help every viewer know what stories define what eras, Knights of the Old Republic video game fans will have some questions… and probably some complaints.

Star Wars has provided a new classifications of nine distinct eras “defined along a mythological timeline giving context to its past, present, and future.” Most of these take place in a condensed century of events featuring the Skywalker family, but the list covers tens of thousands of years in total. The eras include:

• Dawn of the Jedi
• The Old Republic
• The High Republic
• Fall of the Jedi
• Reign of the Empire
• Age of Rebellion
• The New Republic
• Rise of the First Order
• New Jedi Order

If anyone was unsure where the Old Republic sits in history relative to the High Republic, this list clarifies that. The Old Republic is far, far back in the galaxy’s past. (Before the Outer Rims became a problem for everyone.) But that era’s official stories does not include the Knights of the Old Republic video games, even though other eras include some games set during their time periods. For example, Vader Immortal is officially part of the Reign of the Empire.

Does that mean Knights of the Old Republic games are not canon? Or simply that this list only covers what Lucasfilm deems the most important chapters in each era’s story? Anytime Star Wars provides answers we walk away with all new questions. And that’s true of any year in any time period.

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In the first two episodes of Star Wars: Ahsoka, we’re introduced to a new dark side Force user, a shrouded mercenary named Marrok. Given Marrok’s clothing and style of lightsaber, the suggestion from Ahsoka‘s creators is that Marrok is a former Inquisitor. But our theory is that this Marrok is also the former Jedi Barriss Offee. The reasons for this are many. For starters, Barriss Offee has a long history with Ahsoka during the Clone Wars. But Barriss also betrayed Ahsoka towards the end of that conflict, leading to a chain of events that caused Ahsoka to leave the Jedi Order for good. The long relationship with Ahsoka would make Barriss the perfect character to live behind Marrok’s mask. But before we get to the question of Inquisitor Marrok’s true Ahsoka identity—here is a deeper explanation of just who Barriss Offee is and her Star Wars history.

Who Is Star Wars’ Barriss Offee?

Barriss Offee and Ahsoka were Padawans Together

The character of Barriss Offee was not created for Star Wars animation but actually debuted in live-action. Blink and you’ll miss her, but you can see Barriss (Nalini Krishan) in the battle of Geonosis in Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones, igniting her blue lightsaber. George Lucas and Dave Filoni later brought Barris Offee back in season two of The Clone Wars, voiced by Meredith Salenger. Before any possibiliy of Barriss becoming Star Wars‘ Inquisitor Marrok, Ahsoka and Barriss were Padawans together and survived a harrowing ordeal together on the planet Geonosis. These events, which occurred during The Clone Wars season two, were a significant milestone in Ahsoka and Barriss Offee’s young lives.

Barriss Offee Betrays Ahsoka

But in season five of The Clone Wars, Barriss betrayed Ahsoka and framed her for a crime she did not commit. On the Star Wars show, Barriss became disillusioned with the Jedi’s role in the ongoing wars. She believed leading an army into battle was a betrayal of their principles. The Jedi’s role was as keepers of the peace, not soldiers. She succumbed to the dark side and organized a bombing at the Jedi temple. This attack killed civilians and Jedi both. She then murdered the woman who helped her execute it. Barriss Offee framed Ahsoka for this terrible act, which led Ahsoka to go on the run after the Jedi Order didn’t believe her innocence.

Barriss Offee’s Confrontation with Anakin Sets Up Her Future as Ahsoka‘s Marrok

Ahsoka’s master, Anakin Skywalker, ultimately discovered that Barriss Offee was the true culprit behind the attack. So he confronted her in a fierce lightsaber duel. Barriss, by tapping into the dark side, held her own against the Chosen One, but Anakin ultimately defeated her. Ahsoka eventually proved her innocence, but left the Jedi Order without completing her training, betrayed by their lack of trust in her. Barriss Offee admitted her guilt in front of the Republic Senate, admitting she was responsible for the actions she pinned on Ahsoka. The Senate presumably sent her to prison. That means she was incarcerated when Order 66 went down. But did Barriss Offee die in the Star Wars universe? Or did the Empire find another use for her, as they did with other Jedi with dark side inclinations?

Is the Hidden Identity of Ahsoka‘s Marrok, Barriss Offee?

So what happened to Barriss Offee after the Clone Wars? As we learned in both Star Wars Rebels and in Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Empire took certain Jedi younglings and other survivors, and tortured and brainwashed them into becoming Inquisitors. The role of the Inquisitors was to hunt down and kill any remaining Jedi who survived Order 66. Barriss, who already hated the Jedi for what she perceived was their betrayal of the Republic, would have been a perfect candidate. And since she actually held her own against Anakin Skywalker in battle, Darth Vader might have seen Barriss Offee as an ideal choice to become Ahsoka‘s Inquisitor Marrok. By the time of A New Hope, the Inquisitors seemed extinct. But there’s nothing stating for certain that none survived the Galactic Civil War.

Dave Filoni Said Barriss and Ahsoka’s Story Is Not Over

But there is another reason we believe Ahsoka‘s Marrok is likely Barriss Offee. A comment that Dave Filoni made about her back in 2015 at Star Wars Celebration lends strong credence to the idea of Marrok’s secret identity being that of Barriss. The character was originally supposed to kill herself at the end of that arc, but Filoni changed his mind. He said “I had plans for Barriss, and still do… Do [Ahsoka and Barriss] ever meet again? That’s a great question. It would make a great story, but not a story we’ll tell today.” He never told that story in Rebels. Wouldn’t Ahsoka be the perfect place to finally show the Barriss and Ahsoka reunion/confrontation?

If there’s one thing suggesting Marrok is not Barriss, it’s that the character is played by male performer Paul Darnell. But that could easily be a misdirect, so we don’t suspect that Marrok is a woman under that helmet. Remember when Black Widow had a man play Taskmaster for all the masked scenes, but in the reveal was actually a woman, played by Olga Kurylenko? We foresee something similar here.

When you put together the way Barriss’ character lends itself to the story of an Inquisitor, add the intensity of her personal history with Ahsoka, and take into consideration Filoni’s comments, Barriss Offee becoming Ahsoka‘s Marrok seems to fit perfectly. The confrontation between Barriss and Ahsoka is a long time coming, and we hope Star Wars: Ahsoka delivers on this plot twist.

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It is hard work saving the galaxy. Fighting the dark side every day takes it out of you. But thankfully, most Star Wars‘ best outfits know how to combine cozy with epic. BoxLunch’s latest Ahsoka collection breathes life into that spirit. This new line offers you a whole bunch of excellent options inspired by your favorite (not a Jedi) warrior that are perfect for clashing lightsabers with an Inquisitor and snuggling up on the couch. Sweater weather is almost here, after all. Let’s take a look at what BoxLunch has in store.

My favorite piece from the Ahsoka collection is hands down is the Star Wars: Ahsoka dyed/striped hoodie. A release shares, “showcasing an exquisite blend of comfort and style, these hoodies feature Ahsoka’s iconic hues to ignite the spirit of adventure in fans of all ages.” Sounds and looks about right to me. This one is for after you get a galactic pumpkin spice latte, but before you have to face off with a Nightsister of Dathomir.

Additionally, Ahsoka gets some flannel in the mix of the BoxLunch collection. And that just feels right for the Star Wars icon. If Ahsoka accidentally leaped into modern day, we bet she’d love herself some flannel. The shirt promises that Ahsoka is no Jedi in style.

Other pieces from the collection include comfy t-shirts, cool button-ups, and some long-sleeved shirts for good measure. Additionally, if you need Ahsoka in every corner of your life, you can get a mug, pendant necklace, bracelet set, and “brand-new character enamel pins symbolizing the indomitable spirit of Ahsoka, honoring one of the most resilient characters in the galaxy.” Go Ahsoka! But really, go Loth-cat!

Click To View Gallery

The BoxLunch release also promises that coming soon will be a Star Wars: Ahsoka Handbag you can snag. “This elegantly designed bag captures Ahsoka’s essence with its intricate detailing and impeccable craftsmanship, making a bold fashion statement while celebrating the fan-favorite character.” Sounds promising.

The Ahsoka collection is now available on BoxLunch. And, of course, Ahsoka is officially streaming on Disney+,

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You don’t have to be a fan of Star Wars Rebels to enjoy Ahsoka, but it helps if you watched the beloved animated series as well as The Clone Wars. Ditto if you’ve seen The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.

If you don’t have a chance to catch up on everything you’ve missed (or need a refresher on) but want to make sure you’re enjoying this new chapter in the galaxy far, far away’s story as much as you possibly can, we’ve put together a helpful guide of every relevant piece and video we’ve done on Rebels, Ahsoka, and more. (With updates for every new episode included at the end so you don’t have to worry about spoilers.) Because while the Force may be with you, the time needed to watch everything probably isn’t.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Ahsoka Tano

Ahsoka Tano’s Star Wars story began during the Clone Wars. As the Padawan of Anakin Skywalker, she was one of the major characters of The Clone Wars movie and animated show before returning on Star Wars Rebels. Here’s everything you need to read about both her and The Clone Wars for Ahsoka:

The 15 Essential Clone Wars Episodes And Arcs

The 8 Greatest Villains Introduced In The Clone Wars

How Mortis Is Tying Into Star Wars Rebels – Mortis is one of the strangest, most important Force-connected places in the galaxy far, far away. It has intimate ties with another significant locale introduced on Star Wars Rebels, the World Between World.

What You Need To Know About Star Wars’ Ahsoka Tano

Ahsoka Tano Is The Best Character In Star Wars

Anakin And Ahsoka’s Last Interaction Is A Gift – Ahsoka walked away from the Jedi and her Master, Anakin Skywalker. When she learned years later he was really Darth Vader she blamed herself for his fall to the dark side because she wasn’t there for him. The two fought on Rebels.

The History And Evolution Of Ahsoka Tano’s Lightsabers

What Gandalf The White’s Transformation Reveals About Ahsoka’s Journey – Dave Filoni has long compared Ahsoka’s journey to Gandalf the White’s, but what does that actually mean?

A Timeline Of Ahsoka Tano’s Most Important Star Wars Moments

Star Wars Rebels Knowledge to Understand Ahsoka

Ahsoka is an unofficial sequel to Star Wars Rebels, which followed the Rebel Cell known as the Spectres. The show introduced some of the most important, beloved, reviled, and unforgettable characters in franchise history. Here’s what you need to know about the beloved animated series and its major players for Ahsoka:

The 10 Best Stars Wars Rebels Episodes

How The Mandalorian Could Finish Star Wars Rebels’ Story

Every Star Wars Rebels Character You Need To Know For Disney+’s Ahsoka – Get caught up on the major players of Star Wars Rebels, from those we know will appear on Ahsoka to those we think might.

Everything To Know About Star Wars Rebels’ Sabine Wren Before Ahsoka

Who Is Star Wars Rebels’ Hera Syndulla? Everything To Know Before Ahsoka

Everything To Know About Star Wars Rebels’ Ezra Bridger Before Ahsoka

The Mandalorian Brought Star Wars Rebels’ Purrgil To Live-Action – Ezra saved his planet and friends by calling on mystical space whales to take him and Thrawn into unexplored space.

Grand Admiral Thrawn Is Star Wars’ Most Resilient Survivor

What Ahsoka’s Thrawn Question Means For Ezra Bridger’s Fate

What The Mandalorian’s Shadow Council Reveals About The Empire’s Resurrection – The Mandalorian introduced the Imperial Shadow Council, which is also waiting for Thrawn to return.

Will We See Star Wars Rebels’ Kanan Jarrus In Live-action On Ahsoka? – The great Jedi hero Kanan Jarrus might be dead, but he could still appear on Ahsoka (and not just via flashback).

The Mandalorian Brought Star Wars Rebels’ Zeb To Live-Action

Star Wars’ Best Droid Ap-5 Deserves To Join Ahsoka – Hera’s loyal sidekick Chopper wasn’t Rebels‘ only heroic droid.

The 4 Biggest Moments From The Book Of Boba Fett “Chapter 6” – The Book of Boba Fett revealed Ahsoka Tano knows Luke Skywalker, her former Master’s son

Everything You Need To Know About Star Wars’ World Between Worlds Before Ahsoka – This realm outside of space and time is among Star Wars‘ most important to the galaxy, Ahsoka Tano, and Ezra Bridger.

Ahsoka – Trailers, Promos, and Everything We Know

The lead-up to Ahsoka promised a story that will connect with both the past and future of the galaxy far, far away.

Everything We Know About Ahsoka on Disney+

Ahsoka’s Trailer Introduces Star Wars Rebels Heroes To Live-ction

Ahsoka’s Latest Trailer Teases Ezra, Thrawn, And Ahsoka As Sabine’s Teacher

Who Are All The Villains Of Ahsoka?

Latest Ahsoka Trailer Features New Anakin Skywalker Dialogue From Hayden Christensen – Is Ahsoka’s old Master going to return in some form on the show?

Ahsoka Featurette Emphasizes The Master And Apprentice Legacy With Ahsoka And Sabine

Ahsoka – Episodes 1 and 2

Ahsoka‘s first two episodes featured some big revelations, surprise returns, and insights what happened after Star Wars Rebels.

Is Ahsoka’s Sabine Wren Force-Sensitive?

Ahsoka Revealed Morgan Elsbeth’s Connection To A Magical Star Wars Collective – The dark magic wielding Nightsisters of Dathomir were a race of witches who played a major role on Rebels thought to be all but extinct at the start of Ahsoka.

Who Is Ahsoka’s Droid Huyang?

The Star Wars History Of Clancy Brown’s Heroic Ahsoka Character Ryder Azadi

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We knew Star Wars Rebels heroes like Hera Syndulla and Sabine Wren would play big roles on Ahsoka. We also expected some surprise animated characters to make their live-action debuts on the new Disney+ show. And yet, one figure from Star Wars‘ past we did not predict would make the crossover was Lothal’s Governor Azadi. Not only did Governor Azadi appear in Ahsoka‘s first episode, the live-action version of the character was once again played by the great Clancy Brown. Why was Ryder Azadi unexpected appearance on Ahsoka such a highlight for Rebels‘ fans? Because Ryder Azadi is not just another politician in the galaxy far, far away. Azadi is a hero of the Clone Wars who rose to the occasion when his home world needed him.

Who Is Star Wars Rebels‘ Governor Ryder Azadi?

The cunning Ryder Azadi is a native of the Outer Rim planet of Lothal, the homeworld of Jedi Ezra Bridger. The imposing, white-bearded politician made his Star Wars debut during Rebels second season and Azadi played an important role on the show until its finale.

During the outset of the Galactic Empire, Azadi served as Governor of the Lothal sector. He even held the rank of Moff. But the Empire arrested Azadi for treason when it learned he was complicit in underground anti-Imperial broadcasts aired by Ezra’s parents, who also ended up in prison with the Governor.

How Did Azadi Escape an Imperial Prison?

After many years, the Bridgers heard a transmission from their son, now a part of the Spectres Rebel cell. Ezra’s rallying cry for Lothal to fight the Empire galvanized his parents in prison. It inspired them to lead an escape, which Azadi and other prisoner joined. Sadly, the Bridgers died during the breakout, but Azadi reached freedom and returned to Lothal to tell Ezra about his parents.

Why Did Governor Azadi Join the Rebellion on Star Wars Rebels?

Shortly after encountering them, Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus and Ezra invited Azadi to join them to meet Senator Leia Organa. Azadi refused because he feared going back to prison. But while the Jedi were gone, stormtroopers found and arrested the former Governor. Fortunately, the Spectres rescued him before the Empire could execute him. Thankful for what they’d done, the former Governor then helped them with a plot involving Princess Leia. She’d brought three cruisers meant for the Rebel cause. Azadi helped free them thanks to the knowledge he gained working on Imperial locks while in prison.

During their ensuing skirmish with stormtroopers, Azadi learned Kanan was a secret Jedi. That, combined with his renewed vigor found while fighting back against the Empire once more, led Azadi to forget his worries about prison. Instead, Azadi joined Star Wars‘ Rebellion and led a Rebel cell from the outskirts of Lothal’s Capital City.

How Did Azadi’s Rebel Cell Fight the Empire?

The new Rebel cell on Lothal focused on sabotaging Imperial ships being built there. They also answered the Spectres call to help destroy the Empire’s new TIE-factory on the planet and assisted in other major operations, just as the Spectres often aided Azadi’s pleas for help as the Empire’s presence and strength grew on the planet. Azadi even traveled with the Spectres through Star Wars‘ World Between Worlds thanks to the planet’s native loth-wolves (though none of them had any memory of the trip).

Azadi served bravely during the years leading up to the Galactic Civil War. He and his cell members risked death during many daring missions and raids, all while living in hiding. They did so even though the Rebellion could not provide the help Azadi often sought. But he persevered, and the former Governor’s greatest moment came during the battle that liberated his home.

What Did Azadi Do During Star Wars‘ Battle of Lothal?

With Kanan Jarrus dead and the Spectres grieving Ezra Bridger came up with a plan to free Capital City, now fully under Imperial control. Azadi disagreed with the plan and said they’d need an army to take it. Instead, he wanted the Rebels to lay low and regroup.

Ezra asked Azadi to trust him and said they didn’t need an army, just one person. Azadi was then seen contacting Lothal’s current Governor, Imperial officer Arihnda Pryce. In exchange for his safety and freedom Azadi revealed the location of the Rebel base on Lothal.

The plan worked. Azadi was the person Ezra needed for his plan to work. He used the brave, cunning Azadi as a ruse to lure Pryce in. With Pryce in custody the Rebels were able to break into the Empire’s Dome, a structure being used to control Lothal. Ryder’s ability to impersonate voices even helped trick the entire Imperial garrison force to evacuate the planet.

When Ezra Bridger used purrgil to take away himself, Thrawn, and Thrawn’s ship blocking Lothal, the Rebels then sent the Dome into the sky and blew it up. Thanks in part to Ryder Azadi’s heroics Lothal was free of the Empire.

Clancy Brown’s Ryder Azadi in Ahsoka

As Ahsoka revealed, during the early days of the New Republic, Azadi reclaimed his position as Governor on Lothal. He didn’t forget the Rebels who helped him liberate his world, either. He paid tribute to Ezra Bridger on the anniversary of the Jedi’s sacrifice. Ryder couldn’t have been that surprised when a surviving Spectre, Sabine Wren, living in Ezra’s old home on Lothal, didn’t show up for the occasion, however.

Thanks to his long history with the Rebellion, he knows what she’s like as well as anyone. It’s why Azadi also knew Sabine would want to listen to their old friend and fellow Rebel Ahsoka Tano when she returned to Lothal.

How Many Star Wars Characters Has Clancy Brown Played?

Ryder Azadi isn’t Clancy Brown’s only Star Wars character. In addition to playing Lothal’s Governor on both Star Wars Rebels and Ahsoka, Brown also voiced Dathomirian warrior Savage Opress on The Clone Wars animated series. And Brown made his live-action Star Wars debut during The Mandalorian‘s first season when he played the devilish Devaronian mercenary Burg.

Of the three only, Ryder Azadi does not have horns, More importantly, he is the only one who is a true hero to the galaxy far, far away.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. Also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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Season two of The Mandalorian introduced a live-action Ahsoka Tano. First introduced in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars (voiced by Ashley Eckstein), the character is beloved by many Star Wars fans. And Ahsoka’s appearance in The Mandalorian was just the beginning. Ahsoka Tano got her very own live-action series. Ahsoka is coming to Disney+.

Here is everything we know about Ahsoka so far.

Title

The title of the series is Star Wars: Ahsoka, or simply Ahsoka.

Ahsoka‘s Plot

When Ahsoka turned up in “The Jedi” episode of The Mandalorian, she revealed she’s searching for the missing Grand Admiral Thrawn. Who, as Star Wars Rebels fans know, disappeared into the Unknown Regions with Ezra Bridger at the end of that series. The epilogue of Rebels sees Ahsoka and Sabine Wren take off together to search for their missing Jedi friend and the genius Imperial leader. Ahsoka is likely to pick up those story threads. The synopsis says:

Set after the fall of the Empire, “Star Wars: Ahsoka” follows the former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano as she investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy.

The Ahsoka trailer plainly shows lots of the World Between Worlds:

Director Dave Filoni told Vanity Fair the following about the series:

Ahsoka is a continuous story. It is definitely driving toward a goal, in my mind, as opposed to being little singular adventures. That’s what I want the character to be doing, and I think that’s what fans want now. They have such a relationship with her. I’ve only recently started to understand that all those kids that watched Clone Wars are now a lot older—they’re very excited about all the things they grew up with, as they should be.

We will also see quite a few familiar faces, including Star Wars Rebels legend Hera. We cannot get over how cool this character looks in this photo. There will even be a mysterious Inquisitor in play.

Ahsoka‘s Cast

Rosario Dawson will star as the title character, reprising her introduction on The Mandalorian. Joining Ahsoka is her Rebels cohort, Mandalorian warrior Sabine Wren. In live-action, she’ll be played by Australian actress Natasha Liu Bordizzo from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny. According to a release, Diana Lee Inosanto will play Morgan Elsbeth. Meanwhile, Ukrainian actor Ivanna Sakhno has also joined the cast as Shin Hati and Ray Stevenson will appear as Baylan Skoll. Shin Hati and Baylan Skoll appear to be villains in the series and wield orange-colored lightsabers. Eman Esfandi will play Ezra. We can’t wait to see Ahsoka and Sabine search for their lost friend.

Meanwhile, Birds of Prey star Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays Hera Syndulla on Ahsoka. Additionally, Lars Mikkelsen will reprise his Rebels role in live-action and play Grand Admiral Thrawn. David Tennant is also part of the cast; he will play the droid character Huyang, whom he previously voiced.

Additionally, Deadline reports that The Expanse and Hunger Games star Wes Chatham will also be a part of Ahsoka. Chatham will apparently play “the right-hand man to Lars Mikkelsen’s Admiral Thrawn.”

Behind the Scenes 

The Mandalorian’s Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau are showrunning for Ahsoka. Filoni has confirmed that he wrote all the episodes of the season. Additionally, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Peter Ramsey, co-director of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, will direct at least one episode of the show. We still don’t know how many episodes Ahsoka will have.

Ahsoka‘s Release Date

Ahsoka arrives on Disney+ on August 22 at 6PM PT. The series will launch with two episodes on its premiere day. The Star Wars series will continue to air on Tuesdays at that hour throughout its run, a departure from previous Disney+ releases.

Originally published on December 22, 2021.

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