Spoiler Warning: The article features major spoilers for Ahsoka Episodes 1 to 4.
Ahsoka is now a few episodes deep on Disney+ and officially ready to shake things up, with one Episode 4 reveal in particular getting Star Wars fans very excited.
A beloved Prequel Trilogy character has long been rumoured to make an appearance in the show and became all but confirmed after his voice was heard in one of Ahsoka's trailers.
That confirmation finally came at the end of Episode 4 as, final spoiler warning, Hayden Christensen appeared as Anakin Skywalker himself. An Episode 4 discussion thread on the Star Wars Reddit was inundated with reactions to his appearance, perhaps summarised best by rocketpastsix: "Anakin f**king Skywalker."
Ahsoka was the Padawan to Anakin, of course, but the pair have so far only interacted in The Clone Wars and Rebels, which are both animated projects. Therefore, despite the animated Anakin being based on Christensen's look in the Prequel Trilogy, the live action version has never before acknowledged Ahsoka on screen.
This all changed in Episode 4 when he greeted Ahsoka in what appears to be the mysterious World Between Worlds introduced in Rebels. He uses her nickname Snips (named for her snippy attitude when they first met) before saying: "I didn't expect to see you so soon."
"Holy f**k Hayden Christensen as live action Anakin using Ahsoka’s nickname Snips. Never really thought I’d see the day," said one Reddit user. "'Didn't expect to see you so soon.' I didn't expect to see you at all," added another.
"'Hey Snips': Me, a 40 year old grown ass man, faints," said Frankocean2. "Something about Hayden's smile as Anakin. Strikes me to my core," valarpizzaeris replied. "Ayeee Hayden! We finally get live action Anakin and Ashoka together," added another user. "I feel like it’s finally all connected."
Some fans are concerned the moment won't be all fun and games though, thanks to an ominous final turn in the episode. What's handily described by subtitles as "warm music playing" switches when the screen cuts to black, being replaced by the Darth Vader theme.
"Never seen such a rollercoaster of a cliffhanger," said Col_Wilson. "Hayden Christensen appears: Yay, Anakin. Vader music plays: ...yay, Anakin?" Toniintexas agreed: "Ugh Anakin, but ending on Vader's theme is rough."
Fans will just have to wait until September 12 to find out what's going to happen, though the trailers unfortunately provide little clues as only nine seconds of used footage remains to be seen in the show. Episode 4 left plenty to discuss in the meantime, of course, including the truth behind Marrok.
The remaining four episodes will stream every Tuesday at 6pm Pacific / 9pm Eastern and every Wednesday at 2am UK. Disney revealed 14 million watched its premiere across the world, though third-party data suggests the show came in on par with Andor and down 50% from Obi-Wan Kenobi.
In our 7/10 review of the first two episodes, IGN said: "Dave Filoni’s new Disney+ series Ahsoka has plenty of action but still gets off to a slow start by getting viewers up to speed with the events of Star Wars Rebels."
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
