Ahsoka, starring Rosario Dawson as Star Wars fan-favorite Ahsoka Tano, hits Disney+ on August 22. While it’s a little late to squeeze in the entirety of her extensive arc across multiple shows, it’s important to remember how far Ahsoka has come—and how far she has yet to go. Here’s a list of the most essential Star Wars series and episodes to watch before diving into Ahsoka.
The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett
Ahsoka’s live-action cameos in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett are the basis for her appearance in the Ahsoka series. While they don’t explore too much of her character, they establish a basic understanding of Ahsoka, with her being one of the few remaining Jedi in the galaxy, knowing Luke Skywalker, and helping rebuild the Jedi Order. The Mandalorian also establishes that she sees the danger of attachment and how it can create a path to the Dark Side, though Book of Boba Fett shows that she’s softened on the matter since then (or at least deferred to Luke’s judgment).
Star Wars: Rebels
If you do have time to watch some of the Star Wars animated shows, I would highly recommend a handful of episodes from Star Wars: Rebels. While I think The Clone Wars is a slightly better show in terms of how it explores Ahsoka, Rebels is more important; Dave Filoni has called the live-action Ahsoka show “Rebels season 5.”
Ahsoka appears in eight episodes of season 2, though the most important ones are “Siege of Lothal,” “Shroud of Darkness,” and “Twilight of the Apprentice” (Part 2 especially).
She also appears in the season 4 episodes “World Between Worlds” and the Rebels series finale, the latter of which informs where the Rebels characters were during and after the original trilogy, and is implied to directly lead into the events of Ahsoka.
If you really don’t have time for more than two episodes, there’s a DisneyXD compilation of Ahsoka’s scenes that comes out to a cool 45 minutes.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Ahsoka Tano is the standout character of The Clone Wars, being arguably the main character of the show. However, given that Ahsoka appears in 63 episodes and the animated movie, I will do my best to consolidate the highlights of her character and growth.
“Storm Over Ryloth” / “Holocron Heist” / “Cargo of Doom” / “Children of the Force”
Ahsoka appeared in almost every episode in season 1 of Clone Wars, but “Storm Over Ryloth” is the episode that showed her that the consequences of her own reckless behavior and inexperience directly affect the men under her command.
The next arc, “Holocron Heist,” emphasizes this lesson by pitting her against bounty hunter Cad Bane. Thankfully, she learns her lesson this time, which ultimately leads to Ahsoka saving more lives in future arcs.
The Geonosis Arc: “Landing at Point Rain” / “Weapons Factory” / “Brain Invaders”
This is the first time Ahsoka is shown interacting with another Padawan, which further shows how different Ahsoka and Anakin are from the usual dynamics of Master/Padawan relationships. The friendship between Barriss and Ahsoka, while ultimately tragic, was an important one for Ahsoka’s development as she tries to navigate attachment and sacrifice as a Padawan.
The Mortis Arc: “Overlords” / “Altar of Mortis” / “Ghosts of Mortis”
The middle episode is the most important in the arc as it technically features Ahsoka dying, killed by the personification of the Dark Side known as The Son. Thankfully, the personification of the Light Side uses the last of her energy to save Ahsoka. While the far-reaching ramifications of this haven’t been explored as much, there is an implication that Ahsoka is still followed by the reincarnation of the Daughter, who takes the form of a convor bird named Morai.
The Youngling Arc: “The Gathering” / “A Test of Strength” / “Bound for Rescue” / “A Necessary Bond”
Another Clone Wars arc that will likely be referenced is the Youngling arc from season 4, wherein Ahsoka chaperones a Youngling field trip so that they may find their kyber crystals. Hijinks ensue when Pirate Hondo Ohnaka and General Grievous get involved, but the most important part is the debut of Huyang, the lightsaber craftsman droid voiced by David Tennant, who is implied to be one of the oldest characters in Star Wars.
The Wrong Jedi Arc: “Sabotage” / “The Jedi Who Knew Too Much” / “To Catch a Jedi” / “The Wrong Jedi”
This is the arc in which Ahsoka leaves the Jedi Order, and it’s still heart-wrenching a decade later. It highlights the failings of both the Republic and the Jedi, and how innocents like Ahsoka ultimately paid the price. It also emphasizes that, despite his best attempts, Anakin could not protect or control his loved ones.
The Mandalore Arc: “Old Friends Not Forgotten” / “The Phantom Apprentice” / “Shattered” / “Victory and Death”
This is the best arc in The Clone Wars and arguably one of the best pieces of Star Wars media ever produced. A story literally decades in the making, it features Ahsoka’s last goodbye with Anakin and Obi-Wan, the Siege of Mandalore, Ahsoka dueling Darth Maul, and her and Captain Rex surviving Order 66 by the skin of their teeth. If you watch one thing on this list, please let it be this arc.
Extra credit
Being an incredibly popular character, Ahsoka has also appeared in a wealth of comics, books, and spinoff web series. Of these additional pieces of media, the Ahsoka novel and Tales of the Jedi are the most important to Ahsoka’s character as a whole. The novel explores what happened to our favorite Not-a-Jedi after Order 66 and the survivor’s guilt she’s experienced. Tales of the Jedi is more supplementary material but from the sounds of Hayden Christiansen’s voice in the Ahsoka teaser, it seems like the Clone Wars-era flashback will likely be a live-action recreation of the fifth episode of Tales of the Jedi.
Ahsoka Tano’s complete timeline in Star Wars
Tales of the Jedi – “Life and Death”
The Clone Wars movie
The Clone Wars – “Rising Malevolence” / “Shadow of Malevolence” / “Destroy Malevolence”
“Downfall of a Droid” / “Duel of the Droids”
“Cloak of Darkness”
“Dooku Captured”
“Jedi Crash” / “Defenders of Peace”
“Blue Shadow Virus” / “Mystery of a Thousand Moons”
“Storm Over Ryloth”
“Holocron Heist” / “Cargo of Doom” / “Children of the Force”
“Bounty Hunters”
“Landing at Point Rain” / “Weapons Factory” / “Brain Invaders”
“Lightsaber Lost”
“R2 Come Home” / “Lethal Trackdown”
“The Academy”
“Assassin”
“Sphere of Influence”
Tales of the Jedi – “Practice Makes Perfect”
“Heroes on Both Sides”
“Overlords” / “Altar of Mortis” / “Ghosts of Mortis”
“The Citadel” / “Counter Attack” / “Citadel Rescue”
“Padawan Lost” / “Wookiee Hunt”
“Water War” / “Gungan Attack”
“Kidnapped” / “Slaves of the Republic” / “Escape from Kadavo”
“A Friend In Need”
“Deception” / “Friends and Enemies” / “Crisis on Naboo”
“A War on Two Fronts” / “Front Runners” / “The Soft War” / “Tipping Points”
“The Gathering” / “A Test of Strength” / “Bound for Rescue” / “A Necessary Bond”
“Sabotage” / “The Jedi Who Knew Too Much” / “To Catch a Jedi” / “The Wrong Jedi”
“Gone with a Trace” / “Deal No Deal” / “Dangerous Debt” / “Together Again”
“Old Friends Not Forgotten” / “The Phantom Apprentice” / “Shattered” / “Victory and Death”
Tales of the Jedi – “Resolve” / The Ahsoka Novel
Star Wars: Rebels – “Fire Across the Galaxy”
“The Siege of Lothal”
“The Lost Commanders”
“Relics of the Old Republic”
“The Future of the Force”
“Shroud of Darkness”
“Twilight of the Apprentice – Part 1 and Part 2”
“A World Between Worlds”
“Family Reunion – and Farewell”
The Mandalorian season 2 – “Chapter 13: The Jedi”
The Book of Boba Fett – “Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger”
(featured image: Disney+)
