Ezra Bridger (voiced by Taylor Gray) made his Star Wars debut in the animated series Star Wars Rebels, and quickly became one of the most beloved animated characters in the franchise. In fact, the character has become so beloved that he’s making the transition from animation to live-action in the franchise. Fan favorites Bo-Katan Kryze, Ahsoka Tano, and Cad Bane have also made the leap to live-action, with Ahsoka even set for her own self-titled original series starring Rosario Dawson.
Of course, as soon as Ahsoka was confirmed, many hoped it would include Bridger. After all, Ahsoka is the best-suited of the Star Wars TV series to introduce the character: Before Ahsoka’s appearance in The Mandalorian, she was last seen working with the Ghost Crew in Star Wars Rebels. She struck up a close friendship with Bridger and when he disappeared, Ahsoka vowed that she would find him. While she was willing to help Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) deliver Grogu to Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in The Mandalorian, it was clear that her underlying mission was still to find Bridger.
It wasn’t long after Ahsoka was announced that Bridger was confirmed to be appearing in the series. Despite Gray’s interest in also playing the live-action Bridger, Eman Esfandi was ultimately cast in the role for Ahsoka. With Bridger set to make his return to the Star Wars franchise sometime this year, here’s what you need to know about this fan-favorite character.
Who is Ezra Bridger?
Bridger was a Force-sensitive orphan living on the planet Lothal when the Ghost Crew encountered him. His future as a Rebel leader isn’t difficult to understand considering that both of his parents were imprisoned by the Empire and later died in captivity. As a result, Bridger grew up alone on the streets of Lothal, where he resorted to thieving and con-artistry to survive. It was Bridger’s thieving that first brought him into contact with the Ghost Crew when he hopped onto their ship to avoid getting caught for his crimes. It didn’t take long for the crew’s leader, Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus (Freddie Prinze, Jr.), to realize that Bridger was Force-sensitive.
Jarrus offered Bridger a way out of Lothal by inviting him to join the Ghost Crew and train as a Jedi padawan under his supervision. Bridger excelled at his Jedi training and quickly rose to power with a very unique connection to the Force: He is the only known Jedi to ever succeed in accessing the World Between Worlds and is able to manipulate time and reality. Bridger matured a lot over the course of Star Wars Rebels, growing to become one of the greatest leaders in the Rebellion and refusing to turn to the dark side.
As a leader in the Rebel alliance, Bridger played a large role in bringing about the downfall of the empire. He consistently foiled Palpatine (Sam Witwer)’s and Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen)’s plans, aided Sabine Wren (Tiya Sircar) in uniting the Mandalorians, and found Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor). However, Bridger’s greatest accomplishment was finishing what his parents started and liberating Lothal from the Empire.
What happened to Bridger in Star Wars Rebels?
Unfortunately, Bridger disappeared while liberating his home planet. Determined to see his plan through and remove Grand Admiral Thrawn from Lothal for good, Bridger came up with a plan to use a purrgil to defeat the Admiral. (Purrgils are tentacled creatures that live in deep space and travel via hyperspace.) The powerful purrgil devastated Thrawn’s fleet and gave the Rebels a huge advantage. However, the creature then grabbed a hold of the ship that Thrawn and Bridger were on—the Chimaera—and prepared to jump back into hyperspace. Bridger refused to be rescued from the ship in order to ensure that Thrawn couldn’t escape, and both vanished into hyperspace with the purrgil.
While Bridger’s whereabouts remain unknown, Star Wars Rebels executive producer Dave Filoni confirmed that both Bridger and Thrawn survived the trip to hyperspace. Fans also took note of a very intriguing purrgil cameo in The Mandalorian season 3. With Ahsoka and Wren out looking for Bridger, it seems more than likely that fans will receive answers about what happened to him in Ahsoka.
(featured image: Disney)
