Ahsoka Tano is one of the few Star Wars characters that stayed alive during the Clone Wars, the Imperial Era, the Rebellion, the Fall of the Empire, and the era of The Mandalorian. Given that she has been alive for quite some time, we know for a fact that she was alive during the time of the original trilogy. Officially, she was yet to be introduced as a character in the original trilogy, but the canon states that she was alive at that time. So, where was Ahsoka Tano during the original Star Wars trilogy?
In the years before the original Star Wars trilogy, Ahsoka Tano was with the crew of the Ghost. However, after her “death” and “resurrection” in Star Wars: Rebels, it was presumed that she stayed for a long time on Malachor and went on a spiritual journey before returning at the end of the Rebellion.
One of the most interesting stories in Star Wars is Ahsoka’s personal journey throughout the years that she spent after she left the Jedi Order during the Clone Wars. However, while the current Star Wars continuity explains her life after the rise of the Empire well enough, there are still holes in her life during the original trilogy, as she didn’t take an active role during the full-on Rebellion.
Is Ahsoka Tano In The Original Movies?
Throughout the long history of Star Wars, we have seen plenty of different lovable characters that we have become fans of. One of those characters is Ahsoka Tano, who was introduced in the CGI-animated Star Wars: Clone Wars series. She was a padawan apprentice learning under Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker during the events of the Clone Wars.
As we all know, Ahsoka Tano went on to live through the Jedi Purge that followed the events of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. She had an active role as a supporting character in Star Wars: Rebels. After that, she made cameo appearances in both The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett to set up her own spin-off series. And we know that the events of both The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett happen five years after Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
Considering that Ahsoka Tano was alive before and after the original trilogy, was she in Star Wars Episodes IV to VI?
Apparently, even though the official canon timeline states that Ahsoka was alive during the events of the original trilogy, she wasn’t shown in those movies. That’s because Ahsoka’s character was only introduced in the premiere of Star Wars: Clone Wars in 2008. She wasn’t even in the prequel trilogies, but Clone Wars did a good job explaining why she wasn’t with Anakin and Obi-Wan in the events of Revenge of the Sith.
So, in short, she wasn’t in the events of the original trilogy because her character wasn’t even conceived back then. She was introduced 25 years after the release of Return of the Jedi, and that is enough to explain why she wasn’t around that time.
Where Was Ahsoka During The Original Trilogy?
If we were to use the real-life timeline to explain where Ahsoka was during the original trilogy, then it is easy to say that she wasn’t created back then. However, according to the Star Wars canon continuity, she was still alive during the events of the original trilogy. So, where was Ahsoka during Episodes IV to VI?
To understand where Ahsoka was during the events of the original trilogy, it is interesting to look at her involvement from the time she left the Jedi Order until she was reintroduced in the events of Star Wars: Rebels.
Ahsoka was first introduced as Anakin Skywalker’s padawan during the events of the Clone Wars, which happened between Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. She took an active role in helping the Jedi and the Republic against the Separatists during the Clone Wars.
However, when she was expelled and reinstated into the Jedi Order due to a wrongful accusation of a crime, Ahsoka voluntarily left the Jedi on her own accord because she didn’t like the way the Jedi Council treated her case. But she was still present in the events of Clone Wars up to the fall of the Jedi Order. Ahsoka was able to escape the Jedi Purge when she faked her own death and went into hiding for more than a decade.
Ahsoka was introduced in the events of Star Wars: Rebels as someone who was helping Senator Organa in secret so that she could feed intelligence to the growing rebel factions all over the galaxy.
She took on the codename “Fulcrum” until she was finally revealed when Kanan Jarrus, a Jedi Knight, took on Ezra Bridger as a padawan learner. Ahsoka took an interest in Jarrus and began helping the Syndulla rebels or the Ghost Crew. It is worth noting that Star Wars: Rebels took place between 5 and 0 BBY.
Ahsoka actually went with Ezra and the members of the Ghost crew when they traveled to the planet Malachor, which used to be the site of an ancient Sith Temple. Ezra went there to find out how he could beat Darth Vader, but the aforementioned Sith Lord showed up to terrorize the Ghost crew. Realizing that she needed to confront Vader, who was actually her former master, Ahsoka sacrificed herself so that the others could escape his wrath.
It was presumed that Ahsoka died at Vader’s hands on Malachor, as Star Wars lost another fan-favorite character. But when Ezra was able to find a way to travel through time in the World Between Worlds, he pulled Ahsoka from her fight against Vader and took her with him until she found herself alone on Malachor. Essentially, she was resurrected for the second time in her life, as she originally died on Mortis during the events of the Clone Wars before the Daughter resurrected her.
Going back to our point, Star Wars: Rebels happened between 5 and 0 BBY, and that means that it started five years before A New Hope, which sparked the true beginning of a full-on rebellion against the Empire.
However, the end scenes of Rebels happened on 4 ABY, which was during the Fall of the Empire after Luke defeated the Emperor during Return of the Jedi. In the end scenes, she was seen wearing all-white, as she decided to accompany Sabine Wren in her mission to find Ezra Bridger.
That means that there was a four-year gap between Ahsoka’s resurrection in Rebels and her reappearance at the end of the series when she decided to help Sabine. As such, she was still alive between 0 and 4 ABY, which was the time of the original trilogy or the Rebellion. So, where was she during this time?
The official canon is yet to fully state or suggest where Ahsoka was during the time of the original trilogy. However, after she was saved by Bridger and found herself back in Malachor, she stayed there for a while and embarked on a spiritual journey that changed her life.
Ahsoka found another way into the World Between Worlds, and that experience was what ultimately changed her, as she was in the middle of a personal spiritual journey throughout the events of the original Star Wars trilogy. We cannot say for sure how long that journey took her, but we do know that her spiritual journey ended just before the Rebels won against the Empire because she was present when Sabine decided to look for the missing Ezra.
As suggested by the events of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka is yet to find Ezra Bridger, who is alive somewhere in the galaxy. Her mission to find Ezra also coincided with her mission to locate the missing Grand Admiral Thrawn, who could still be a threat to the New Republic.
Given that Ahsoka will have her own spin-off series, all of the answers to our questions regarding where she was during the events of the original trilogy might be given some more light if the writers were to fully explore that timeline.
Is Ahsoka Alive In The Sequel Trilogy?
Even though Ahsoka lived up until the events of The Mandalorian, it is suggested that she died somewhere in between that time and the events of the sequel trilogies or Episodes VII to IX. The Mandalorian takes place on 9 ABY, while Episode VII takes place on 34 ABY, 25 years after Ahsoka was last seen.
The ultimate proof of Ahsoka’s death lies in the fact that her voice was heard when Rey heard all of the voices of the past Jedi in her final battle against the resurrected Darth Sidious or Emperor Palpatine. Considering that only the dead Jedi spoke to her in spirit, that means that Ahsoka met her demise somewhere before Episode VII.
Ahsoka’s spin-off series might explain how the former Jedi dies, as this live-action show is what will ultimately shed some light on her life while filling some gaps in the timeline of her life from the time of the Clone Wars until her live-action debut in The Mandalorian.
