Spoilers ahead for the Season 1 finale of Ahsoka, called "The Jedi, the Witch, and the Warlord."
The finale of Ahsoka on Disney+ tied off some loose ends that have been dangling as far back as the final episode of Star Wars Rebels in 2018, and also left so many unanswered questions that it’s time to start hoping for a Season 2 a la Andor. The days that have passed since “The Jedi, the Witch, and the Warlord” released for Disney+ subscribers already prove that fans are divided on whether or not it worked as a finale, but I’m just happy that Dave Filoni included some callbacks to Rebels and The Clone Wars. That said, there’s one moment that didn’t happen that still has me extremely bummed out.
But before getting into the bummer, let’s be optimistic and look at the fun callbacks to the animated series in the Ahsoka finale!
The Callbacks To The Clone Wars
“The Jedi, the Witch, and the Warlord” delivered some nods to the animated shows set earlier on the Star Wars timeline that really fit with what I was hoping for from Ahsoka. In fact, moments that had me flashing back to The Clone Wars were pretty important to the plot instead of just Easter eggs.
Anakin Skywalker watched Ahsoka. The most obvious callback in the Ahsoka finale was when the Force ghost of Anakin Skywalker paid a visit to his former padawan on Peridea. Not only was it a nod to their bond, but the shot of Anakin watching Ahsoka walk away is reminiscent of her final appearance in the original run of The Clone Wars, when she decided to leave the Jedi Order.
The Father and the Son. Baylan Skoll, played by the late and great Ray Stevenson, appeared to finally reach what he was looking for with the statues of the Father and the Son. For Star Wars fans who haven’t watched the animated shows, the statues may have looked more like the Lord of the Rings Argonath than anything from the galaxy far, far away, but they were introduced in the Mortis arc of Clone Wars along with the Daughter.
Morai’s appearance. The owl-like creature that appeared toward the end of the finale is known as Morai. She is strongly implied to be connected to the Daughter, whose statue was incomplete on Peridea and who brought Ahsoka back to life before her own death in Clone Wars’ Mortis arc. Morai appeared more often in Rebels than Clone Wars, but the connection goes back to the earlier animated series.
Huyang was in professor mode. Huyang’s existence by Ahsoka is quite different from when he taught thousands of generations of Jedi younglings to construct their lightsabers, but he was able to go back into professor mode as Ezra came on board Ahsoka’s damaged ship to build his third lightsaber. While Ezra didn’t entirely listen to Huyang’s attempts to teach, it was still a throwback to the droid’s original purpose.
The Callbacks To Star Wars Rebels
There are throwbacks to Rebels in “The Jedi, the Witch, and the Warlord” that were more nostalgic than essential to the plot. For me as somebody who has always preferred Star Wars Rebels to The Clone Wars, these were the moments that particularly stood out… and led me to the moment that I wish had been included.
Sabine and Ezra talked about Kanan. Finally, Kanan Jarrus got some love in Ahsoka beyond the quick name-drop from Huyang in Episode 5 to explain why Jacen has Force abilities. After Sabine mentioned their late father figure, Ezra established that Kanan was his former master who taught him everything he knows.
Huyang mentioned Kanan’s real name. Rebels actually only mentioned that Kanan’s real name was Caleb Dume before the fall of the Jedi Order a couple of times, although the Season 4 episode immediately following his death was called “DUME.” In Ahsoka’s finale, Huyang reflected on teaching Caleb how to build a lightsaber, and described him as "clever," “very curious," and "a little shy, perhaps."
Ezra built his new lightsaber to look like Kanan’s. Huyang revealed that he still had a twin piece to Caleb’s lightsaber despite all the years that passed, and he gave it to Ezra. The long-lost Jedi ignited his new blade to show that it was blue, just like his original. Ezra’s new lightsaber is probably as close to Kanan’s as fans will ever see in live-action.
Sabine shoved Ezra with the Force. I have mixed feelings about Ahsoka’s storyline for Sabine since she definitely didn’t need the Force or a mostly off-screen Jedi journey to be a great character, but I did get a kick out of Ezra taking a running jump to reach Thrawn’s ship and Sabine using the Force to give the extra push he needed. It was a move straight out of Ezra and Kanan’s playbook in Rebels.
Ezra stole a stormtrooper uniform. Was there any moment in Ahsoka's finale that was more pure Rebels than Ezra impersonating a stormtrooper and then stealing his uniform to stow away? Ezra was collecting helmets before he even joined the Ghost crew, and wearing trooper armor to go undercover was a Rebels staple. If anything, this was Ezra coming full circle: he’s finally tall enough to pass as a stormtrooper instead of a scout trooper.
Why I’m Bummed Despite All These Callbacks
If there was one moment that I was hoping against hope for in the Ahsoka finale, it was Ezra returning to his galaxy to reunite with Hera and then meeting – or at least finding out about – young Jacen. In the previous episode, Sabine seemed to deliberately leave Hera and Kanan’s son out of the updates that she gave to Ezra, which really led me to believe that Ahsoka was saving the big moment for the Season 1 finale.
When Ezra arrived at the New Republic hangar and removed his helmet to see Hera again for the first time in a decade, I really thought it could happen. Unfortunately, the scene ended not long after Hera recognized him and said his name, before any sign of Jacen or even a hug.
Now, I was prepared for a reunion without any tears from Hera, since I wasn’t sure if it was even possible for actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead to cry without ruining her makeup as the Twi’lek general. I even would have been happy if Jacen had just popped up at the end for Ezra to get a look at him. Instead, Hera and Ezra had a very brief reunion, with Ezra presumably unaware that Kanan and Hera had a son.
And the reason that this really bums me out is that I can only assume that there will be a time jump to whenever Star Wars picks this story up again, meaning that we’ll never get to see Ezra’s reaction to Jacen. For me, Eman Esfandi has been the Ahsoka cast member who has best captured the spirit of their character from animation, and it would have been a treat to see his adult version of Ezra get the Jacen reveal.
Rosario Dawson Is Great As Ahsoka, But The Future Of Star Wars Rests On These Three Actors
Did this ruin the finale for me? No, and I appreciated that Ahsoka finally gave Kanan his due in the “The Jedi, the Witch, and the Warlord,” but I can’t help but imagine what might have been if the scene of Hera and Ezra’s reunion had run just a little bit longer to include Spectre-7. Hera didn’t even hug Ezra before the scene cut away with no sign of Jacen, and I’ll always see this as a missed opportunity. After all, Ahsoka had me more invested in the Rebels characters than Ahsoka herself!
I was a fan of the Rosario Dawson-led series on the whole, though, and I’m hoping for a Season 2 to continue the story after all the cliffhangers rather than waiting for Dave Filoni’s movie to see what comes next. For now, we can always revisit the first full season of Ahsoka steaming on Disney+, as well as all seven seasons of The Clone Wars and all four seasons of Star Wars Rebels.
