Fascinating Facts About Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars
Ahsoka Tano entered the Star Wars canon in the 2008 film Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The character rose through the ranks to become a fan favorite. Transitioning from animation into live-action, Ashoka has appeared in multiple series.
As the titular character for her own show, it’s a good time to revisit some of the important parts of Ahsoka’s journey.
Ahsoka Is a Togruta
Togrutas were a humanoid species in the galaxy who were a very proud and honorable culture. They were hunters, and their headdresses were decorated in the teeth and bones of the predators they bested in their rituals.
While their military might was known and feared dating back to the High Republic era, they also valued art and beauty. They regarded the earth as sacred, so they were often barefoot and only wore shoes off-world. One fun fact was the Togruta homeworld of Shili was known for making melodramatic Holovid series.
Ahsoka Was Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan
In The Clone Wars movie, Ahsoka is introduced to Anakin Skywalker as the Jedi Council assigned her to be his padawan. Their relationship was rocky at first as both master and apprentice were headstrong and stubborn at times. But as time went on, Ahsoka and Anakin grew together to become an incredible team. Anakin went out of his way to train Ahsoka in unorthodox methods. It was this specialty training that saved her life during the events of Order 66.
The teacher and student would meet one final time in Star Wars Rebels with Ahsoka as an adult and Anakin fallen to the Dark Side as Darth Vader. Thanks to the interference of another Jedi, Ezra Bridger, Ahsoka walked away from that climactic battle with her old master. She would stay in touch with the Skywalker family working with Leia Organa’s adopted father, Bail Organa, and also following the formation of Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Academy.
She Was Friends With Padmé Amidala
Anakin wasn’t the only Skywalker family member who impacted Ahsoka’s life. Padmé Amidala was a close friend to Ahsoka as the two often teamed up together during the Clone Wars. One of the most important lessons the padawan learned was in The Clone Wars episode “Heroes on Both Sides.” Padmé took Ahsoka behind enemy lines to meet with a senator fighting for the Separatist. This senator, Mina Bonteri, was once part of the Republic.
Despite being on opposite sides of the conflict, these old friends wanted peace and wished to work together to end the war despite their disagreements. It was one of many crash courses on politics Padmé gave Ahsoka to teach the padawan that people weren’t black and white.
She Walked Away From The Jedi Order
Towards the end of the Clone Wars, Ahsoka was framed for a heinous crime she didn’t commit. As the Jedi Order revoked her status as a padawan and cast her out, the only person who believed her was Anakin. She went on the run, was captured, and put on trial. Luckily, Anakin did not give up on Ahsoka and found the true culprit. Ahsoka was disillusioned by the Order and chose to walk away, not considering herself a Jedi anymore.
She Has History With Darth Maul
Despite her time away from the Order, Ahsoka returned to the Clone Wars for one last battle. The ex-Sith Lord Darth Maul took over Mandalore, acting as its ruler. When Bo-Katan Kryze needed an ally that wasn’t part of the Republic, she turned to Ahsoka to aid her. Ahsoka faced Maul in an intense battle, one of the best of The Clone Wars series. She captured Maul, but he was able to get away as Order 66 disrupted their transport.
Ahsoka would meet Maul a second time in Star Wars Rebels, both characters fully renouncing their Jedi and Sith past. As Imperial Inquisitors hunted the separate groups, Ahsoka and Maul temporarily set aside their differences to fight back against the Empire. This truce lasted a short time as Maul escaped while Ahsoka fought her old master turned villain, Darth Vader.
She Helped Heal Rifts Between Jedi and Mandalore
Jedi and Mandalorians have a long, bitter history as sworn enemies. The beskar armor, tech, and gadgets used by the Mandalorians were specifically crafted to kill Jedi from their centuries-long wars. These rifts began to heal over time thanks to characters like Tarre Vizsla and Sabine Wren working with Jedi.
Ahsoka took this healing even further as an ally for Bo-Katan. Together, they fought and reclaimed Mandalore from Darth Maul. While it was a short-lived victory as the Republic turned into the Empire who also invaded Mandalore, Bo-Katan never forgot the help she got. It’s part of the reason she sent Din Djarin and Grogu to find Ahsoka in The Mandalorian. Grogu was also welcomed as an official Mandalorian despite his Jedi abilities.
Old wounds heal in time, allowing for new future paths thanks to characters like Ahsoka.
Two White Lightsabers
Ahsoka started The Clone Wars with a single lightsaber, but over the course of the series, she adopted her duel-wielding stance. As an adult, she became known for her two white blades. How did she come across rare white lightsabers?
The novel Ahsoka by E.K. Johnston tells the story of Ahsoka in hiding post-Order 66. She fights the Sixth Brother, an Imperial Inquisitor, who uses spinning double-bladed red lightsabers. After she beat him, Ahsoka took the Inquisitor’s blade and removed the two kyber crystals inside. Ahsoka used the power of the Light Side of the Force to heal the Kyber crystals, which turned them white before constructing her new lightsabers.
She Was a Leader of The Rebellion
The Ahsoka novel and the anthology series Tales of the Jedi both chronicle from different points of view how Ahsoka became a leader in the Rebellion. Both versions entail her keeping in touch with Bail Organa, who she initially turned down.
But after saving a group of people from Inquisitors in both versions, Ahsoka contacted Bail and helped him form his communication lines under the codename Fulcrum. Ahsoka was one of many Fulcrum agents. Two other notable Fulcrums were Alexsandr Kallus from Star Wars Rebels and Cassian Andor from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Andor.
A Powerful Connection to The Light Side of The Force
During the Clone Wars, Ahsoka, along with Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi stumbled into the strange realm of Mortis. This place was inhabited by three force-wielders with God-like abilities. The Son represented the Dark Side, the Father was the Balance in the Force, and the Daughter represented the Light Side. Through the events on Mortis, Ahsoka lost her life. As the Daughter was also perishing, she used the last of her strength to resurrect Ahsoka.
Since then, Ahsoka had a particular bond to a convor, a bird-like creature in the universe. This convor was named Morai, who had a spiritual connection to the Daughter. The creature became a spiritual guide for Ahsoka over the years.
The World Between Worlds
During Ahsoka's climactic battle with Darth Vader, Ezra saved Ahsoka’s life by pulling her through a portal into a place called the World Between Worlds. It is an arcane plane where all of time and space meet in the Force. Pathways are connected through a series of doors and portals. Morai guided Ezra to save Ahsoka before they both returned to their rightful times.
Thanks to a series of Topps cards with artwork from Dave Filoni, the next part of Ahsoka’s journey was chronicled. Morai would lead Ahsoka back into the World Between Worlds once again, putting her on a spiritual journey. How it changed or affected Ahsoka is still being explored, but it was a period that changed her life.
She Faced Darth Vader
Rebels Season 2 focuses on Ahsoka, who, by that time, worked as a rebel spy, tracking the origins of the mysterious Darth Vader. An encounter between the two made her realize that her old master, Anakin, had become Vader, and joined Darth Sideous to rule the galaxy. When Ahsoka finally confronted Vader, she begged him to turn back to the Light Side of the Force. Vader told her that he'd murdered Anakin, and a furious duel ensued that almost claimed both their lives.
She Escaped Order 66 With Maul
Ahsoka rejoined the Jedi Order for one final mission in the waning days of the Clone Wars. In the midst of her work, the clone troopers assigned to her detail turned on her as the Emperor executed Order 66. Ahsoka managed to escape thanks to some help from Commander Rex, a clone that Ahsoka helped free from his programming and from the clones' prisoner–Darth Maul. The unholy alliance between Ahsoka and Maul lasted long enough for the latter to escape and double-cross Ahsoka in the process. Rex and some brave droids came to Ahsoka's rescue, who escaped just as their ship crashed. Darth Vader found her lightsabers among the wreckage, and assumed she'd died.