Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars explained

From debuting in The Clone Wars to getting her own show, Ahsoka Tano has become one of the best Star Wars characters, and here's all you need to know about her.

Star Wars - Ahsoka Tano explained

Who is Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars? The former Padawan of Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka is a powerful force user who’s become a popular fixture of a galaxy far, far away. Fresh from making the jump to live-action in The Mandalorian, she soon got her own series.

An eternal rebel throughout Star Wars, Ahsoka has quickly become one of the best Star Wars characters around. Watching the Star Wars movies in order won’t teach you anything about this former Jedi, but there are now plenty of Star Wars series that give us key information about Ahsoka.

From her start in The Clone Wars and Rebels, through to more recent live-action appearances in The Mandalorian and now her own show, there is so much to learn about Ahsoka. So here’s all you need to know about Ahsoka Tano.

Ahsoka Tano explained

Ahsoka is an ex-Jedi and the former padawan learner of Anakin Skywalker. As an older force-wielder, she chooses to not align herself with the Jedi or Sith, instead forging her own path.

Ahsoka’s first appearance was in animation form, in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and she actually wasn’t well received at first. Eventually, Ahsoka’s rebellious side, as well as her nuanced opinions on the Force, would come into play, and we saw her again in Rebels as the Fulcrum.

By the time we get to when Ahsoka takes place, she has been living somewhat as a loner, having kept a low profile, but the series sets up lots of change in this regard.

Ahsoka Tano explained

What is Ahsoka Tano’s backstory?

Part of the Togruta race, Ahsoka Tano is first introduced as a force-sensitive teenager that Yoda assigns to Anakin Skywalker during Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the film, and subsequent show overseen by Dave Filoni.

She and Anakin Skywalker don’t really get along but manage to bond over successfully mending the relationship between the Hutts and the Galactic Republic. She carries over into The Clone Wars TV series, during which she starts to become the character we know so well.

She’s an asset in the ongoing efforts against the Confederacy of Independent Systems, becoming a Padawan-general of the 501st Legion, and Anakin grows protective despite his somewhat crass demeanor.

But, as we all know, eventually, things start to go the other way for the Galactic Republic, and Anakin turns to the dark side, becoming one of the best Star Wars villains ever, Darth Vader. Before all that, however, Ahsoka turns her back on the Jedi due to internal persecution for something she didn’t do.

In the last season, she faces Darth Maul and throws away one of her old lightsabers, which Vader is seen discovering later. Before Rey and Kylo Ren spoke about finding a new way between the light side and the dark in the sequel trilogy, Ahsoka was forging her own path.

YouTube Thumbnail

She reappears again during Star Wars: Rebels as an agent of The Rebellion. Rebels picks up 14 years after Clone Wars ends and five years before Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (aka one of the best movies of all time), at a point when the Galactic Empire was exterminating Jedi and other pockets of resistance. Ahsoka is a key figure in keeping efforts against Darth Vader and the stormtroopers alive.

During the second season, she’s devastated to learn Anakin has become Darth Vader, completely subsumed by Emperor Palpatine and the allure of the dark side. In visions, Anakin blames her for his downfall, and eventually, they face each other in Malachor-V, a Sith temple, in the finale of season two.

Vader is the only one who leaves, and Ahsoka’s fate is left ambiguous until it’s revealed in season four that Ezra Bridger, one of the protagonists of Rebels, saved her using time travel. At the end of the show, Ahsoka returns the favor, and she and Sabine Wren start looking for Ezra after he disappears with Grand Admiral Thrawn. This sets up the premise for the new series, Ahsoka.

Star Wars: Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars: Rebels

The next time we see her, she’s left animation for live-action in season two of The Mandalorian. Rosario Dawson joins the Star Wars cast to play the iconic hero, with her double white lightsabers to signify she’s neither light nor dark, similar to Rey’s yellow saber at the end of The Rise of Skywalker. In the episode ‘The Jedi’, she’s in a stand-off with Imperial Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth, who’s placed in Calodon, a city on one of the planets of Corvus, under Imperial rule.

Now something a legend as a freewheeling Jedi, Ahsoka plays Yojimbo in situations like this, where small communities are threatened without assistance. The Mandalorian winds up there trying to find Ahsoka so Grogu – also known as The Child, or Baby Yoda – can receive appropriate Force training. She and Grogu communicate, but after Anakin’s downfall to become Vader, she fears what could happen if that level of power turns sour.

Regardless, she and the Mandalorian help Calodon, with Ahsoka pressing Eslbeth for information on Thrawn, teasing a confrontation. She then sends the Mandolorian toward a disused Jedi temple that could help Grogu understand himself.

YouTube Thumbnail

When is Ahsoka Tano’s next appearance?

Ahsoka Tano was seen in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett and now leads her own Disney Plus series, Ahsoka. It’s unclear when she’ll next pop up.

Now that the Ahsoka release date has been and gone, our hero is on the hunt for Thrawn again, with Rosario Dawson leading the Ahsoka cast as the titular character. We think this could be one of the best Disney Plus shows and it was developed by Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau.

Dawon’s Ahsoka series is set in the New Republic era and takes place approximately alongside The Mandalorian season 3. This means we’re roughly at the year 11 ABY. This is over 30 years after she met Anakin during the Clone Wars.

By the end of the show, Ahsoka is stuck on Peridea with Sabine Wren, but she seems fine with that. If we had to guess, we’d say Filoni’s new Star Wars movie is likely when we’ll next see her, as he has plans for lots of character crossover. Or, of course, we might end up getting an Ahsoka season 2 release date instead.

Star Wars: Ahsoka Tano in The Mandalorian

Who plays Ahsoka Tano?

Three actors have played Ahsoka Tano across animation and live-action. Ashley Eckstein voices her for Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels, with Lauren Mary Kim doing motion-capture for her movements. Rosario Dawson, then, has taken on the role of the live-action version of Ahsoka.

Dawson was previously in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Netflix shows Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Iron Fist, and Luke Cage, where she played Clare Temple. Just as her time with Marvel was done, she became part of Star Wars.

That’s everything pertinent to Ahsoka we can tell you right now. But rest assured; we’ll be maintaining these sacred texts so you’re always in the loop on her mission to find Thrawn.

YouTube Thumbnail

Ahsoka Tano’s powers explained

Ahsoka’s powers come from the Light side of the Force. She’s skilled in telekinesis, telepathy, and dual-wielding lightsabers.

Ahsoka pretty much has the general Light side abilities, but aside from what she gets from the Force, she also is multilingual, a great pilot, and has been shown to be solid in hand-to-hand combat too.

For more, learn why Rosario Dawson is already looking ahead to Ahsoka season 2 and find out what you need to watch before Ahsoka to understand all of the backstory for the new show. You can also learn about the Nightsisters of Dathomir, see if Morgan Elsbeth is a Nightsister, and find out why Ahsoka Tano survived Order 66 in the saddest way.

Of course, you can look to the future of the galaxy with updates on the best TV series and when they might return, including The Mandalorian season 4 release date and the Andor season 2 release date. Alternatively, here’s what we know about new movies like Avatar 3.