Ahsoka Tano has survived a lot in the Star Wars universe. Anakin’s Padawan during The Clone Wars, Ahsoka Tano has truly seen the worst of the galaxy and just about lived to tell the tale. Of everything she lived through, how she dodged Order 66 is easily the saddest, only adding to her being the best Star Wars character.
Ahsoka’s brush with Order 66 comes in The Clone Wars season 7, episode 12, ‘Victory and Death’. Anakin’s descent to the Dark Side happens while Ahsoka’s on a Star Destroyer called Tribunal with Captain Rex, a clone trooper. She senses what happens to her former master but can only feel him go down, unable to help or stop him.
In the Star Wars series, she removes Rex’s inhibitor ship to stop him from being a mindless soldier of the Empire, but they’re still surrounded by clones who treat them as a target. Through some quick thinking and quicker moves, they get to the ship’s control room, only to find it’s caught in the orbit of a nearby moon and set to crash. Realizing their fate in the sci-fi series, they grab a Y-wing and just barely get away from the descending destroyer.
Once the Tribunal touches down, killing everyone on board, Rex and Ahsoka land near the wreckage. They make a gravesite for all the fallen troopers, Rex adding his helmet in solidarity and to create the illusion that he died as well.
Ahsoka stares at her lightsaber among the array of graves, utterly devastated by what’s just happened. One of her best friends, Anakin, was gone, and he’d plunged the galaxy into fascist rule in the process. So many people were dead, so much damage had been done.
She drops her lightsaber, implying that she also died in the Tribunal for anyone passing by, and leaves with Rex. Years later, Darth Vader arrives, investigating the area. Is it because of the Tribunal or because he senses some residual energy of Ahsoka? We can’t say, but he discovers the lightsaber and stares at it.
There’s not much hope left after The Clone Wars, and there wouldn’t be a lot to hold onto until a small boy on Tatooine grows up to realize he has an incredible destiny. Until then, Ahsoka becomes an ally to all those who stand against the Empire, a phantom who’s dead to everyone until she lets them know otherwise.
Now, she’s become integral to Star Wars going forward. Ahsoka was part of the animated series Rebels, appeared in The Mandalorian, and come to the Ahsoka release date; she’ll be leading the next chapter of the franchise. Check out our guide on the Star Wars movies in order to make sure you’re ready for what’s coming, and keep our pieces on the Acolyte release date and Skeleton Crew release date for what’s also coming up.