The new Ahsoka show has retconned some Star Wars ending and epilogue elements. With many references to the animated series Star Wars Rebels, the series might be over-dependent on the previously existing lore to make itself understood as a story.
Some people are even going so far as thinking Ahsoka may as well be Rebels Season 5. Ahsoka acts as a direct sequel to Rebels. It has brought characters previously only seen in animation into live-action for the first time since the Ghost crew overwhelmed Grand Admiral Thrawn on Lothal in the Rebels finale.
Ahsoka also works as a pseudo-sequel to The Mandalorian, forcing Ahsoka to change the previously established timeline.
While many story elements come from Rebels, Ahsoka is trying to tell its own story in the sense that it’s about one main character, Ahsoka Tano. While Ahsoka boats strong supporting characters like Syndulla, the focus remains on Ahsoka.
Ahsoka is part of the Mandoverse, the Star Wars timeline focusing on the galaxy’s history in the New Republic Era. Because of Ahsoka’s connection to The Mandalorian and the show’s core purpose of setting up Grand Admiral Thrawn as the new overarching villain in the Star Wars universe, Rebels’ ending, and epilogue were forced to change.
When people talk about the series having too many ties to Rebels, they are referring to Ahsoka’s relationship with Sabine Wren.
Ahsoka’s master-apprentice relationship with Sabine feels disconnected from Rebels, where their interactions are minimal. Sabine had brief lightsaber training with Kanan but no Force abilities.
Her being Ahsoka’s Padawan is strange, with no on-screen development of their bond. While Sabine has a rich backstory from Rebels, she remains a supporting character to showcase Ahsoka’s growth.
The focus is on Ahsoka’s journey from Anakin’s apprentice to becoming a master herself. The relationship between Ahsoka and Sabine feels disjointed in Rebels. Their interaction was minimal, and it doesn’t make sense that Sabine is Ahsoka’s Padawan.
All we see is a brief moment of lightsaber training from Kanan but no abilities to use the Force. There was no on-screen development of their bond either. Although Sabine has her backstory, she remains a supporting character for Ahsoka’s growth. The primary focus is how she goes from Anakin’s apprentice to becoming a master herself.
We see Ahsoka as an eternal apprentice. She finds herself in the position of master in what may as well be the culmination of her own story as a rebellious Light Side warrior.
Although some of her story does take place in Rebels, she was a supporting character back then. On the other hand, the roles are reversed now, and the Rebel’s characters support her character development.
That’s why the series has her name — it’s essentially about her journey, which started in The Clone Wars, briefly continued in Rebels, and now reaches its zenith.
“Ahsoka” has its well-structured premise.
Star Wars rarely has a subject as well-defined as Ahsoka. Usually, they have premises like The Mandalorian in which Mando tries to deliver Grogu to the Jedi or Boba Fett and becomes the new daimyo of Mos Espa. But Ahsoka is different; it has a premise that it wants to flush out and ties directly to the character’s mission of finding Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ezra Bridger, and that’s the dynamic between masters and their apprentices.
Ahsoka has at least three duos like this. And they all explore the subject in their own way. Ahsoka and Sabine don’t fit the traditional mold of a padawan master pair in Star Wars, but they still operate as one.
We also have Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati. What makes them unique is that Baylan went to the dark side not as a Sith but still practiced dark side techniques. Shin doesn’t know how to use the Force, but you can quickly tell she’s an apprentice just from her hair alone. She’s got the braid and everything.
The final duo is Morgan Elsbeth, who’s been looking for someone named Thrawn for a long time and is preparing for his return.
Rebels also played around with this idea of masters and apprentices, specifically, Kanan Jarrus overcoming his challenges to train Ezra Bridger. But again, that was always limited to those two; Ahsoka and Sabine never touched each other.
You could watch all the Rebels without knowing these two exist until you get to season 4, where they’re introduced but barely spoken about again. And this is why Ahsoka might have been season 5 if it still wanted to keep that storytelling magic from Rebels; it brings back most of its main characters, yes, but does a complete 180 on its storyline with a new focus on Ahsoka herself and a new subject to analyze.
About Ahsoka
Ahsoka is an American limited series developed by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni for Disney+.
It is part of the Star Wars franchise and a spin-off from the series The Mandalorian, taking place in the same timeframe as that series and its other interconnected spin-offs after the events of Return of the Jedi (1983), while also serving as a continuation to the animated series Star Wars Rebels.
The series follows Ahsoka Tano as she investigates an emerging threat to the galaxy following the fall of the Empire.
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