Ahsoka Tano is making her big return to live-action for her own series, naturally titled Ahsoka, and she's not the only familiar character we can expect. In addition to a number of heroes from Star Wars Rebels like Ezra Bridger and Sabine Wren, it's looking continually likely that we'll even see Hayden Christensen reprise his role as Anakin Skywalker once more. That last bit makes me a tad concerned, even though it isn't the first time we've seen Anakin pre-Vader in this new era.
Anakin Skywalker was a big part of Ahsoka Tano's formative years as a Jedi, so it's not at all wrong for Ahsoka to lean into that. At the same time, there seems something mildly discomforting about featuring more Anakin scenes these days, especially if they're going to play out the way I imagine.
Anakin Skywalker's Relationship With Ahsoka Differs From Others
When it comes to Ahsoka Tano's memories with Anakin Skywalker, a vast majority of them from the Clone Wars era are going to be positive. The relationship between a Jedi Master (in the training sense, not actual rank) and their Padawan is always a close bond, and we saw a lot of that in the Prequel Trilogy between Anakin and Obi-Wan. They had a brotherhood that was shattered over time thanks to the influence of Palpatine and the Dark Side. Obi-Wan saw what Anakin became, and as his master, he took great shame that his former pupil went down that path.
Now to flip that perspective, imagine being a pupil and how much you'd idolize your master. Anakin and Ahsoka Tano had a relationship akin to siblings, and when she finally learned of his transition into Darth Vader, she was devastated. Even when she knew what he became, Ahsoka still attempted to protect him and prevented both of their deaths during their battle on Malachor during Star Wars Rebels' "Twilight of the Apprentice." The episode is certainly worth watching ahead of the premiere, provided you have a Disney+ subscription.
Even at his absolute worst, Ahsoka Tano cared for Anakin. As such, it's hard to imagine any memory we see of the two of them together being anything but warm and positive. I can't knock it for being true to the character and being lore accurate, but is this really a message to send in 2023?
Continually Humanizing Anakin Skywalker Feels Odd
I'll confess I've always had a bias toward finding Darth Vader irredeemable. Saving one Jedi, even with just the context of events that happened in Star Wars Episodes IV-VI, was not enough to grant him a Force Ghost. Though he didn't give the explicit order for its destruction, he was a key factor in the deaths of two billion people on Alderaan alone, and saving his own son for his selfish desires negated that? I don't think so.
In the time since the Original Trilogy, we've read and seen countless other misdeeds Darth Vader did throughout his time as the Emperor's right hand. These events have helped further explain the character, but they certainly didn't make him more likable. If anything, they could make the argument that Vader's desire to save Luke was only second to his need for revenge against Palpatine.
While we still don't even have official confirmation that Anakin Skywalker will appear in Ahsoka via flashbacks or otherwise, I feel weird about further humanizing the character. I find it hard to believe that whatever portrayal we see of him will be anything less than positive given their relationship, though I think it could ultimately come down to how it's framed. If it's framed in such a way that Ahsoka is heartbroken her master became an unrecognizable monster like in Star Wars Rebels, then I'm ultimately ok with it because it speaks more to her than me. There is a rumor such a scene could happen, but in the interest of spoilers, I'll avoid talking about it here.
Should We Continue To Sympathize With Anakin Skywalker?
I think the Prequel Trilogy and related works did a phenomenal job of showcasing the good in Anakin Skywalker, as well as his fall. I don't see a need for Ahsoka, Obi-Wan Kenobi and other shows to continue to portray him in a sympathetic light. At the end of the day, he was a child murderer before he was officially Darth Vader, and we should be reminded of that more than how he used to be a human being with feelings.
Does Qui-Gon Jinn shoulder some blame for insisting on training Anakin despite the advisement from the Jedi Council? Absolutely. Are there questions of whether it was truly necessary that Jedi lived lives with no attachments, be isolated from family and carry out any romances they had in secret? I agree with that too. The rest of the world gave Anakin Skywalker every reason to turn on it, but at the end of the day, it was his decision to turn to the Dark Side.
Star Wars continuing to sympathize with Anakin Skywalker in 2023 broadcasts a message that I think is confusing both to me as an adult and I'd have to imagine anyone much younger than me. In continuing to reinforce Anakin's humanity and knowing what he becomes, are we sending the wrong message to the more impressionable minds in the fandom?
It's a question I didn't have to wrestle with as a child, and by the time the Prequels were released, I was old enough to understand the nuance of it all. I don't know if a child today, with all that is out there, would be able to draw the same conclusions and may walk away with an entirely different belief.
The simple response to this would likely be that Ahsoka was not a series developed with children in mind, and I think that's largely true. This is a show for those who loved Star Wars Rebels and The Clone Wars, and a way for Dave Filoni to bridge the gap between the Original Trilogy and Sequel Trilogy the same way he did from the Prequels to the Original Trilogy. I acknowledge that I am potentially thinking too deeply about all of this, but with the thought crossing my mind that the franchise is at risk of broadcasting the wrong messages about Anakin Skywalker, I suspect others feel the same.
Ahsoka starts premiering new episodes on Disney+ this coming Tuesday. Concerns aside, I am thrilled to see what this series has to offer and the opportunity to see more adventures with some beloved Star Wars characters.
