While the second season of The Mandalorian remained focused on Mando and Grogu’s journey across the galaxy far, far away, it did take the time to set up a few spin-offs, including Rangers of the New Republic and The Book of Boba Fett. Another show that has been announced to take part in this continuity is Ahsoka, centered around Rosario Dawson’s live-action take on the character, who was introduced in “Chapter 13: The Jedi.”
Ahsoka’s appearance in The Mandalorian set up a couple of storylines for her spin-off, and with the talent behind it, there are plenty of reasons to look forward to the new show.
While The Mandalorian’s dream team of Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni are overseeing the development of both of the show’s spin-offs, Filoni is writing the Ahsoka series solo.
The show is in very safe hands, as Filoni is not only one of the best storytellers working in the Star Wars franchise right now; he’s also one of the Ahsoka character’s two co-creators with none other than George Lucas himself, who mentored Filoni through his early Star Wars career.
Initially, when it was announced that Rosario Dawson would be playing the live-action Ahsoka Tano on The Mandalorian, there was some controversy among the fanbase because the role was made iconic by Ashley Eckstein in animated form.
However, Dawson’s take on the character turned out to be great. She recaptures enough of Eckstein’s energy to really feel like Ahsoka, but in the same way that Ewan McGregor played Obi-Wan, she avoids simply imitating the performance that came before her and brought her own quirks to the role.
In the climactic duel of “Chapter 13: The Jedi,” Ahsoka bests Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth in combat and forces her to reveal the location of her master, Grand Admiral Thrawn. This likely set up Thrawn as the villain that Ahsoka will face in her spin-off series.
This would be awesome because Thrawn is one of the Star Wars universe’s greatest villains. He’s just as chilling as Darth Vader or Emperor Palpatine, but as a cold, calculating bureaucrat who’s better at military strategy than brute force, he couldn’t be more different than them.
The live-action Ahsoka wasn’t just introduced in The Mandalorian because it was the quickest way for Disney to tease her spin-off. Her show will run alongside the storylines of The Mandalorian, with plenty of potential for characters to cross over between the two.
Whether Mando himself appears on Ahsoka or not, the fact that Ahsoka’s story will be told in that world — a world with Bo-Katan and Boba Fett and a Luke Skywalker who actually acts like Luke Skywalker — is intriguing.
The early episodes of the second season of The Mandalorian fell into a formula of sending Mando on side missions to earn someone’s help with his main quest. That all turned around with “The Jedi,” one of the season’s best installments.
And since this is the episode that served as a backdoor pilot for Ahsoka, that’s a very promising sign. From the gorgeous live-action rendering of Ahsoka’s colorless lightsabers to the dynamic set up at the city of Calodan, the character’s introduction in “The Jedi” was spectacular.
If Ahsoka’s search for Grand Admiral Thrawn ties into the end of Rebels, then a few characters from that show might appear in live-action form in her spin-off series. If Temuera Morrison’s hands aren’t full playing Boba Fett, he could play Captain Rex in Ahsoka.
The new series could also include live-action incarnations of Ezra Bridger and Sabine Wren. The former is a Jedi and the latter is a Mandalorian warrior, so they’d fit right into The Mandalorian’s interconnected universe of TV series.
Ahsoka was initially conceived as a foil for Anakin Skywalker in The Clone Wars, and while her characterization has since expanded significantly beyond that, her relationship with Anakin is still one of the most important aspects of her character. When Mando asked her to train Grogu, she refused because she feared he’d go down the same path as Anakin.
Since Ahsoka will take place in a post-Empire world, when Vader has been redeemed, Hayden Christensen could make an appearance as Anakin’s Force ghost to explore the next stage of the characters’ relationship.
If the lightsaber action in The Mandalorian’s “The Jedi” episode was just a teaser for what’s to come, then the Ahsoka series will be an action-packed delight.
A warrior wielding dual lightsabers has rarely been seen in live-action Star Wars media and Ahsoka’s spin-off series will have it in spades.
Although Mando’s goodbye to Grogu was certainly the highlight of the episode, the most talked-about moment from The Mandalorian’s season 2 finale “The Rescue” was the triumphant appearance of Luke Skywalker tearing through Dark Troopers with his lightsaber.
While the CGI in the episode was a little dodgy, the character will likely be cast with a permanent actor or created with sturdier effects going forward. In addition to training Grogu in The Mandalorian, Luke might make an appearance in Ahsoka.
When it was announced that The Mandalorian would be getting two spin-offs, Ahsoka and Rangers of the New Republic, it was confirmed that the interconnecting plot threads of all three shows would be building toward a “climactic story event.”
Whether that event is reclaiming Mandalore or taking on Thrawn or the rise of the First Order or all of them at once, it’s a tantalizing prospect. It might even be a movie that serves as a series finale for all three shows.
