It’s been a wild ride for Ahsoka Tano in the Star Wars universe over the past 15 years. She started out her career as the Jedi Padawan fans never knew Anakin Skywalker had. And over the course of multiple animated series, books and live-action shows, Ahsoka has grown to become one of the most beloved Star Wars characters who isn’t named “Skywalker.”
With Rosario Dawson set to reprise the role in Star Wars: Ahsoka, now is the perfect time to step back and look at the character’s Star Wars journey so far. Here’s the definitive history of Ahsoka Tano, from the early days of The Clone Wars to the years after the fall of the Empire. She may be no Jedi, but Ahsoka has been one busy heroine.
Ahsoka Tano: Padawan
Ahsoka makes her first appearance in 2008’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie. It turns out that, after becoming a Jedi Knight following the events of Attack of the Clones, Anakin was given a Padawan of his own to train. She may not have been mentioned in the Star Wars prequels, but Ahsoka plays a pivotal role in both the movie and the animated series that followed it.
A Togruta who was recruited into the Jedi by Plo Koon, Ahsoka proves to be headstrong, brave and talented in the Force. In other words, the spitting image of her new master, Anakin. It’s inevitable that the two butt heads early on, but over time Anakin takes a shine to his new protege, whom he affectionately nicknames “Snips.”
Ahsoka is given plenty of opportunity to prove her mettle as the Clone Wars rage on. She also forms close bonds with fellow Jedi like Bariss Offee, clone soldiers like Captain Rex and even Senator Amidala. She also grows closer with her Master, though that isn’t entirely a good thing. Having a Padawan only furthers Anakin’s struggles with attachment, and it’s when Ahsoka’s life is threatened that his secret dark side begins to make itself known.
Unfortunately for Ahsoka, she never completes her journey to becoming a true Jedi Knight. She’s framed for a deadly bombing at the Jedi Temple and is forced to become a fugitive to prove her innocence. Ahsoka eventually discovers that a Dark Side-corrupted Barriss was the true culprit, but at that point, the damage is done. She leaves the Jedi Order to find her own path, leaving Anakin alone, conflicted, and one step closer to becoming Darth Vader.
However, duty calls, and Ahsoka has one last reunion with Anakin and Rex in the final days of the war. She agrees to lead a battalion of Clone Troopers to liberate Mandalore and overthrow its current ruler, Maul. Anakin gives Ahsoka a parting gift, a new pair of blue-bladed lightsabers.
Ahsoka and her troops fight a fierce battle. After an epic duel, Maul reveals to Ahsoka the true scope of Darth Sidious’ plans and tries to recruit her as his new apprentice. Ahsoka instead chooses to bring Maul into Republic custody. But by this point, the end of the war has arrived. The newly crowned Emperor Palpatine institutes Order 66, and suddenly Ahsoka finds herself being hunted by the same clones who so recently helped her liberate Mandalore.
Ahsoka, Maul and Rex barely escape with their lives in the wake of Order 66, and all three go into hiding, far from the watchful eyes of the new Galactic Empire.
After the Clone Wars
Like the others who survived the Purge, Ahsoka spends the next several years in hiding, simply trying to survive without being discovered by Darth Vader and his Inquisitors. This time period is mostly explored in the 2016 novel Star Wars: Ahsoka, though the first season of Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi also gives us a very abridged version of that story.
Ahsoka tries to start a new life as a mechanic named Ashla, but it’s not long before she’s forced to reveal her Force powers to those around her. During her time on the agricultural moon Raada, Ahsoka winds up attracting the attention of both Senator Bail Organa and Sixth Brother of the Sith Inquisitorius.
Ahsoka winds up forging an alliance with Senator Organa. In exchange for her help as an intelligence agent, Organa will help Ahsoka protect Force-sensitive children being targeted by the Inquisitorius. Ahsoka battles and kills Sixth Brother, using the Kyber crystals of his double-bladed lightsaber to forge her now-iconic white lightsabers.
Ahsoka then takes the codename Fulcrum, referencing the fetch that the people of the galaxy need a tool to help them shift the balance of power. She becomes one of the most important assets the fledgling Rebel Alliance has in fighting the overwhelming might of the Empire.
Joining the Rebel Alliance
Ahsoka’s story continues in the animated series Star Wars Rebels, which is set in the years leading up to A New Hope. The series mainly focuses on the Spectres, a crew that includes hotshot pilot Hera Syndulla, former Padawan Kanan Jarrus, Mandalorian rabble rouser Sabine Wren, the hotheaded Zeb Orrelios and budding Jedi Ezra Bridger. Ahsoka herself only plays a small role in the series’ first season, where she appears as the mysterious Rebel agent Fulcrum. Only in the Season 1 finale does Ahsoka reveal herself and become an official member of the crew.
Ahsoka moves to the forefront of the series in Season 2, helping the Spectres deal with the growing threat of the Empire and the Sith Inquisitorius. She takes a special interest in Kanan, who struggles to embrace his role as a teacher to young Ezra. Having been ostracized from the Jedi herself, Ahsoka knows what it’s like to be adrift in the Force.
Over the course of Season 2, Ahsoka finally discovers the truth about her old master. Anakin wasn’t killed along with the rest of the Jedi Order, but instead fell to darkness and became Darth Vader. Ahsoka is haunted by a vision of Anakin blaming her for abandoning him and allowing him to become corrupted.
Season 2 culminates in the long-awaited reunion between Ahsoka and Anakin, as the Spectres battle the remaining Inquisitors on the Sith world of Malachor. Even Maul shows up to join the fight, though it isn’t long before he betrays his new allies.
It’s here that Ahsoka finally duels Vader, promising to earn vengeance for the metaphorical death of Anakin Skywalker. When Vader reminds her that Jedi don’t believe in revenge, Ahsoka utters what may be her most iconic Star Wars line ever - "I am no Jedi."
Ahsoka puts up a valiant fight. She even manages to slice open Vader’s helmet, revealing the scarred visage of Anakin Skywalker in a scene that mirrors the one in Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi. But ultimately, Vader is too strong to be brought down by his old apprentice, and it’s all Ahsoka can do to delay the Dark Lord of the Sith long enough for her friends to escape. Kanan and Ezra are left to assume Ahsoka dies in the collapsing Sith temple.
This wasn’t to be the end of Ahsoka’s story, however. In Season 4 of Rebels, Ezra travels outside of time and space and into a realm known as the World Between Worlds. There he’s able to rescue Ahsoka just before she’s killed by Vader. After a brief clash in the Force with Emperor Palpatine, Ahsoka returns to her timeline moments after the temple is destroyed, vowing to find her friends again and rejoin the fight.
The series finale of Rebels shows Ahsoka making good on her promise. Following the Rebel Alliance’s victory at Endor, Ahsoka is seen rallying Hera and Sabine to find the missing Ezra, who is now stranded on the far side of the galaxy along with Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Ahsoka’s Brave New Future
Ahsoka’s story becomes a little more murky at this point, as we don’t yet know what happened in the years immediately following her duel with Darth Vader. Why didn’t she immediately reunite with Ezra and the gang? Why didn’t she play a more active role in helping the Rebellion or protecting the children of Anakin Skywalker? Those are questions the franchise still has to answer, but we may get those answers now that Ahsoka is starring in her own live-action series.
The foundation for the Ahsoka series is laid in The Mandalorian and its spinoff, The Book of Boba Fett. Five years after the events of Return of the Jedi, we learn Ahsoka (now played in live-action by Rosario Dawson) is scouring the galaxy looking for clues as to Thrawn’s whereabouts.
It’s also revealed that Ahsoka did finally connect with Luke Skywalker, lending the Jedi Master a helping hand as he builds his new Jedi Academy on Ossus. But as she’s quick to point out, Ahsoka is no Jedi, and she has her own fish to fry.
Star Wars: Ahsoka picks up where The Book of Boba Fett left off, as Ahsoka reunites with Hera (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Sabine (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) to finally track down Thrawn and Ezra. The trailers for the series hint that Sabine, like Ezra, is Force-sensitive and may have briefly trained under Ahsoka before they parted ways.
The Ahsoka series will pit our heroes against a new group of Dark Jedi, Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) and Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno), as well as Grand Admiral Thrawn himself (Lars Mikkelsen). The series will delve deeper into the mysteries of the World Between Worlds and give fans more insight into how the dying Empire evolved into the First Order.
As for what comes next, that’s anyone’s guess at this point. Ahsoka and Thrawn are both believed to play major roles in Dave Filoni’s upcoming live-action Star Wars movie, which ties together The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka.
Ahsoka’s only other appearance after this point in the Star Wars timeline comes via a vocal cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Does this mean Ahsoka is dead by the era of the Sequel Trilogy, or will we learn she had a part to play in the war between the First Order and the Resistance? If we’ve learned anything about Anakin Skywalker’s old Padawan, it’s that you should never count her out.
And that’s what you need to know about Ahsoka Tano before watching her new series. What are your theories about the show? How will Ahsoka fit into Filoni’s Star Wars movie? Sound off in the comments below.
If you need more help prepping for Ahsoka's live-action return, brush up on the essential Ahsoka, Hera and Sabine episodes and learn who's who in the Ahsoka trailer.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
