The best thing about The Baby Yoda Show--I mean The Mandalorian on Disney Plus is that you don’t have to be familiar with every scrap of Star Wars lore to enjoy it. But the more you watch, the more you may feel inclined to learn more about some of the characters you’ve never seen before.
If you’re totally ready to come to the nerdy side, you should probably stop reading this now and watch the Clone Wars film, the Clone Wars series, and Star Wars: Rebels series (in that order). I’m about to spoil A LOT. You can come back later if you need a refresher course.
But if you don’t have the time or desire to commit to consuming all the Star Wars canon, it’s okay because I did, and I am here to help. I am assuming you’ve watched both seasons of The Mandalorian so I’m warning you AGAIN that there are spoilers coming up after the following picture. Seriously, at least go watch the Mandalorian before reading this. Save the article, follow me on News Break, and I’ll see you in approximately three days after you’ve finished binge-watching.
Okay, ready?
In Season 2, Episode 5 of the Mandalorian, Din Djarin (AKA Mando, played by Pedro Pascal) brings The Child (AKA Baby Yoda) to the planet Corvus to find a Jedi named Ahsoka Tano (played by Rosario Dawson). Din was quested with returning the Child to his kind and was tipped off by a fellow Mandalorian, Bo-Katan that he could seek out Ahsoka. If you’re only familiar with the Star Wars movies, then this was the first time you’ve heard of Ahsoka.
So who is this chick and why does she matter? Ahsoka Tano is a force-sensitive female Togruta who is first introduced in the Clone Wars movie. As a biased consumer, she’s my favorite character in the Star Wars Universe. [This is your last chance to put this article aside and go on a total Star Wars bender.]
As a result of the Clone Wars breaking out, many padawans were hastily knighted in the Jedi order, and many younglings were raised to the status of padawan. One of the padawans-turned-knights was Anakin Skywalker who became an important general during the Clone Wars. At first, Anakin swore he would never take on a padawan because the padawan would “only slow [him] down.” Enter youngling-turned-padawan: Ahsoka Tano.
Most theorists agree that Ahsoka was around 14 years old when she was assigned as a padawan to Anakin by Master Yoda. Ahsoka was bursting with personality and displayed a similar attitude towards fighting as Anakin did. The two quickly bonded on their first mission together to save Jabba The Hutt’s son, whom Ahsoka dubbed “Stinky.” Throughout the Clone Wars, the pair took turns saving each other’s lives.
Ahsoka was as outspoken as Anakin was, but was able to bring out the best in him. As Ahsoka put it in their first meeting, she “brought the enthusiasm” and he “brought the experience.” The best way to describe their relationship was sibling-like and they were constantly getting in and out of mayhem together. If Anakin was going against the orders of the Jedi Council, Ahsoka was usually not far behind.
Flash forward to Season 3, Episodes 15-17 of the Clone Wars series. Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka find themselves stuck on the planet Mortis where the force is unnaturally strong. Here they meet The Father, The Daughter, and The Son. The Father represents the source of the cosmic Force, The Daughter represents The Light Side, and The Son represents The Dark Side. Through tests presented by The Father, it is revealed that Anakin is The Chosen One who can bring balance to The Force because he is able to control both The Son and The Daughter. The Father asks Anakin to stay on Mortis since he is the only one with the ability to control The Children. Anakin refuses, believing he is needed elsewhere.
Recognizing the strength Anakin wields, The Son kidnaps Ahsoka. He puts her under a spell of The Dark Side in an effort to lure Anakin into joining forces with him to overthrow his Father and Sister. A battle breaks out between The Son and The Daughter, and Evil Ahsoka steals the dagger that controls The Son in order to make The Son invincible. The Son attempts to kill The Father, but The Daughter gets in between them and sacrifices her life to save her Father. She transfers the last of her life force to Ahsoka and returns her to normal.
With The Father grieving the loss of his Daughter, The Son redoubles his efforts to bring Anakin to The Dark Side. He shows him a vision of the pain he will cause when he becomes The Sith Lord, Darth Vader. Fearful of his future, Anakin agrees to join The Son in order to save his loved ones. Ahsoka doesn’t accept this and grabs Obi Wan to help her find The Father get Anakin back. Anakin confronts The Father and The Father wipes Anakin’s memory of the vision The Son had shown him. The Son and The Father battle again, but The Father kills himself to take away The Son’s power and opening the door for Anakin to kill The Son and return balance to The Force.
Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka finally get off Mortis and only remember fragments of what happened while they were there.
The final episodes of Season 5 alter the fates of both Ahsoka and Anakin. In Episode 17, Anakin and Ahsoka investigate a terrorist bombing at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. They designate a woman named Letta Turmond as the key suspect in the bombing, but Turmond is mysteriously killed while Ahsoka is questioning her in the prison cell. Because Ahsoka was the only one with Turmond when she died, she is blamed for the murder and is arrested.
Ahsoka flees prison in the attempt to find a way to prove her innocence, but this leads to more people believing her guilt. She is recaptured, expelled from the Jedi order, and is brought to trial. Anakin refused to believe that Ahsoka had any part in Turmond’s murder, and as her trial began, he went to the Coruscant Underworld to find the actual killer.
Anakin discovers the killer to be another Jedi padawan who had become disillusioned with The Republic, and Ahsoka is exonerated. The Jedi Council apologizes for not believing in her and offer to reinstate her as a padawan. However, after losing trust in the Order, Ahsoka chooses not to return and leaves the Jedi Temple. This explains why she isn’t seen in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
We don’t see Ahsoka for an entire season, and she finally returns in Season 7, episode 5. Eventually, Ahsoka meets back up with Bo-Katan and the two request help from the Jedi to take Mandalore back from Darth Maul (who apparently survived being cut in half by Obi Wan in Episode I). Anakin, Obi-Wan, and members of the 501st Regiment meet Ahsoka and Bo-Katan for a sentimental reunion. Anakin returns Ahsoka’s lightsabers to her before he’s called back to Coruscant to rescue Emperor Palpatine, bringing us up to the climax of Episode III.
The Siege of Mandalore ensues, and our heroes are successful in capturing Maul. Ahsoka’s batallion is on route to Coruscant to hand Maul over to the Jedi Council when Ahsoka senses Anakin’s fall to The Dark Side. Moments later, Darth Sidious issues Order 66 and the clones turn on Ahsoka who narrowly escapes being killed. Ahsoka subdues the troop leader, Rex, and releases Maul to distract the clones hunting her down.
As revealed in previous episodes, the clones had a chip placed in their heads at birth to give them the ability to turn on the Jedi when called upon. Ahsoka has a medical droid remove the chip from Rex’s head and she gains an ally. In the attempt to escape, the ship is eventually crashed on a nearby moon and the only survivors are Rex, Ahsoka, and Maul.
Rex and Ahsoka bury the clones and Ahsoka discards her lightsabers in front of the graves. A flash forward shows the field covered in snow as Anakin, now Darth Vader, exits a tie fighter. The series ends with him retrieving one of her lightsabers.
