Who is Jacen Syndulla in Ahsoka? The first three episodes of the new Star Wars series on Disney Plus have presented us with plenty of characters from the casts of the various Star Wars animated series. It's enough to turn the most devoted fans into that meme of Leonardo DiCaprio pointing.
Star Wars fans will certainly have noticed the arrival of Jacen Syndulla, son of Mary Elizabeth Winstead's rebel pilot Hera, in Ahsoka episode 3. We've seen Jacen as part of the Star Wars cast before when he appeared during the finale of one of the best animated series from the franchise, Star Wars Rebels. But now he's around in live-action.
Jacen Syndulla is a part of the Ahsoka cast and we're sure he has a role to play in one of the best TV series for Star Wars fans going forward. But who is Jacen Syndulla, what will his role be, and does it have anything to do with Jacen Solo?
Who is Jacen Syndulla in Ahsoka?
Jacen Syndulla is the son of rebel pilot Hera Syndulla and her partner Kanan Jarrus, who was a Jedi in the animated series Star Wars Rebels.
Kanan and Hera served as something like parent figures for the Rebels team and, by the end of the series, they had become parents for real. Kanan gave his life to save his friends, but we later learned that Hera had become pregnant before his death. In the Rebels finale, we got a brief glimpse of little Jacen.
Child actor Evan Whitten plays the live-action version of Jacen in the third episode of Ahsoka, telling his mom about his dreams of becoming a Jedi. We’d put money on that story beginning to play out by the end of the new Disney Plus series.
However, it’s worth noting that any Jedi around this point of the Star Wars timeline would likely be sent to train with Luke Skywalker. And, unfortunately, we know that most of the kids at Luke’s school ended up slaughtered by Kylo Ren. Uh oh!
We have our fingers crossed that Ahsoka will make it clear that Jacen manages to avoid that fate.
Is Jacen Syndulla connected to Jacen Solo?
As far as we know, Jacen Syndulla in Ahsoka has no link to the Star Wars Legends villain Jacen Solo. Dave Filoni simply chose the name to honor the famous character.
Fans will have spotted that Jacen Syndulla shares a first name with one of the best Star Wars characters from the Expanded Universe, now known as Star Wars Legends. While those stories are now considered non-canon, that doesn’t mean they can’t influence and inspire the new Star Wars series and new Star Wars movies.
For a bit of background, in the Legends universe, Jacen Solo was one of the sons of Han Solo and Leia Organa. He was trained by Luke and became a part of the New Jedi Order before falling to the dark side and emerging as Sith lord Darth Caedus.
So is the shared name a coincidence? No, it isn’t, but that doesn’t mean Jacen has a Sith future. Crucially, though, there’s a chance that Ahsoka creator Dave Filoni could take the story in that direction.
Speaking after the Rebels finale, Filoni told io9: “It seemed, in a very small way, naming him Jacen was a way to honor the expanded universe character of Jacen Solo who just really isn’t there anymore as the timelines have changed. I thought that’s a little bit of a wink to people that I know that was an important character. And maybe, in some way, that lives on through this character. I don’t know yet.”
Filoni his keeping his cards close to his chest for now, but we could have yet another fallen Jedi on our hands in the future. And he’d be an homage to one of the best Star Wars villains from the non-movie world.
If that’s not enough Ahsoka Tano for you, find out which Jedi power Ahsoka shares with Yoda and learn more about how Ahsoka survived Order 66 in the saddest way possible. We’ve also explained the Eye of Sion, the Pathway to Peridea, and the Nightsisters of Dathomir.
You can learn more about the best movies in the franchise with our guide to the Star Wars movies in order. Or, look ahead to the new movies on the way soon as we explain why Rey deserves a new Star Wars movie. Finally, check out everything new on Disney Plus this month.