Ahsoka Tano is, by her own admission, not a Jedi. She left the organization months before Revenge of the Sith and Order 66. As a result, she left her master, Anakin Skywalker, when he “needed her most.” But why did she leave in the Jedi Order—and Anakin Skywalker—in the first place?
The Wrong Jedi
The main reason Ahsoka left the Jedi Order was that, after she was framed for a terrorist plot, the Jedi conceded to the Senate and expelled her from the Order so that she could be given a military trial. Notably, this decision was more of a political move than one based on any belief in Ahsoka’s guilt; the pretense of formality ultimately angered Anakin and Ahsoka.
While the Jedi Council later apologized and invited Ahsoka back, Mace Windu tried to shift the blame by calling the mistake “her great trial” in reference to the Jedi trials needed to become a fully-fledged knight. This may even indicate that the Council was willing to give Ahsoka the status of Knighthood as a consolation prize for the betrayal.
Ahsoka ultimately chose to walk away from the Order that abandoned her. In her own words, she left the Jedi because “they didn’t trust me, so how can I trust myself?” When Anakin reminded Ahsoka of how he stood by her, she told him, “This isn’t about you,” and stated that she needed to find herself.
Aftermath
Originally, deleted scenes from a canceled Clone Wars arc indicated that Anakin somewhat resented Ahsoka leaving. While he mainly blamed the Council for turning their backs on her, he also asked Obi-Wan how he would feel if Anakin had “turned out to be a major disappointment.”
Nevertheless, Anakin still missed Ahsoka, keeping her lightsabers with him just in case she ever decided to return. When the two were reunited in the lead-up to the Battle of Coruscant and the Siege of Mandalore, Anakin welcomed her back with open arms, did everything he could to get her the military support she needed, and returned her lightsabers (though he notably changed the crystals from green to blue, much like his own saber).
For all intents and purposes, their relationship still appeared to be strong by the time Order 66 was executed. Mere hours before the Order went out, Ahsoka expressed interest in the possibility of returning to the Jedi Order. Which makes the end of The Clone Wars all the more tragic.
Thinking all of her friends to be dead, Ahsoka is forced into hiding, though she ultimately joins the rebellion due to her refusal to let innocents suffer, knowing she can help. However, Ahsoka was wracked with guilt for her decision to leave Anakin, especially once she discovered the identity of Darth Vader. When meditating in the Lothal Jedi Temple, she saw a vision of Anakin, who blamed her for “abandoning him” and broke down in tears. Upon facing Vader, Ahsoka at first refused to believe that Anakin could be Vader and swore to avenge her master’s death. Cracking open Vader’s mask and seeing the face of her master, Ahsoka promised Anakin that she “won’t leave him. Not this time.”
Vader, too corrupted by anger and hatred, rejected Ahsoka and attempted to kill her for her perceived betrayal. He was only stopped from doing so by the timely intervention of Ezra Bridger and the World Between Worlds.
When Ezra realizes he has the chance to save his own master, Kanan Jarrus, from being killed by the Empire, Ahsoka reminds him that Kanan died saving Ezra and the Ghost crew. Pulling Kanan out of that moment in time would mean death for everyone else. Ahsoka, finally coming to terms with the loss of her own master, tells Ezra, “You can’t save your master, just like I can’t save mine.”
Both Ezra and Ahsoka escape the World Between Worlds and seemingly cut off outside access to it. That is, until episode 4 of Ahsoka, which reveals that Ahsoka has now fallen into the World Between Worlds, where Anakin has been waiting to speak with her.
Let’s hope he’s come up with an amazing apology in the time since they last saw each other.
However…
I want to say one thing: I am super uncomfortable with Ahsoka being blamed in any capacity for Anakin’s fall. Blaming Obi-Wan is one thing, as he was Anakin’s mentor and parental figure. But Ahsoka was 16 years old when she was expelled from the Jedi Order, and 17 when the war ended. Making a literal teenage girl responsible for the actions of a grown man—a man who is meant to be her mentor—has never sat well with me. Especially since there was a long-standing habit of this in The Clone Wars, with Obi-Wan asking Ahsoka to “keep an eye on Anakin” during emotional situations.
Granted, emotions are not always rational, and many survivors feel survivors’ guilt no matter what they did or didn’t do. But Ahsoka also appears to have backslid somewhat in blaming herself for Anakin’s fall; in Ahsoka, she talks with Hera about how she “walked away from [Anakin] … just like how [she] walked away from Sabine,” and how “even the right reasons [can] have the wrong consequences.”
Here’s to hoping their conversation in the next episode will finally bury the hatchet.
(featured image: Disney+)
