Spoilers ahead for the series finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, called “Victory and Death,” and follow-up series Star Wars Rebels.
The series finale of The Clone Wars quite literally marks the end of an era for Star Wars, as it finishes filling in the blanks of the prequel era for the major characters. Unlike the previous three episodes of the Clone Wars finale arc, however, “Victory and Death” wasn’t so much focused on the impact on the entire galaxy far, far away. Instead, the final episode of Clone Wars followed Ahsoka and Rex’s desperate attempt to escape the clones who were trying to execute Order 66.
Considering the overlap between the final episodes of The Clone Wars and the events of Revenge of the Sith, the focus on two characters rather than galactic conflict was a fitting way to finish the story. Of course, fans of Star Wars Rebels, Solo, and/or who have kept up on Mandalorian casting news already knew three characters who weren’t going to die before the final Clone Wars credits rolled: Ahsoka, Rex, and Maul.
“Victory and Death” ended without a flash-forward to detail their fates, but other Star Wars projects fortunately reveal what happens to them down the line. So, if you’re not afraid of MAJOR SPOILERS for Star Wars Rebels and Solo, read on to find out what happens to Ahsoka, Rex, and more after the Clone Wars series finale!
Ahsoka Tano
Ahsoka survived Order 66 thanks to her timely removal of the chip in Rex's brain, and she made a nail-biter of an escape from a crash that killed almost everybody else on board the ship. After burying the clone troopers who died, Ahsoka seemingly faked her own death and abandoned one of her lightsabers, which Darth Vader eventually found and kept.
In the 15 or so years following the end of The Clone Wars, Ahsoka constructed two white lightsabers for herself, symbolizing her neutrality in the Force. She also joined forces with Bail Organa and became part of the fledgling Rebellion, adopting the title of “Fulcrum” to conceal her identity. (Cassian Andor of Rogue One would later become known as “Fulcrum” as well.)
She made her first on-screen appearance since Clone Wars in the Season 1 finale of Star Wars Rebels, and would appear in some key episodes of Season 2. While assisting the Rebellion and the Ghost crew (including unconventional Jedi knight Kanan Jarrus and padawan Ezra Bridger), Ahsoka came to suspect that Anakin Skywalker had become Darth Vader. She wasn’t certain until the Season 2 finale, set on Malachor, after she managed to strike a hole in Vader’s mask.
Since Vader couldn’t return to the light in Star Wars Rebels when he had years to go before Return of the Jedi, he fully intended to kill her. Her fate was uncertain following the Season 2 finale until almost the very end of Season 4, when Rebels revealed that Ezra had used his adventure into the World Between Worlds to pull Ahsoka out of the duel with Vader before Vader could deliver a killing blow.
To preserve the timeline, Ahsoka returned to Malachor and didn’t turn up again until the Rebels series finale, when she arrived on the planet Lothal to recruit Sabine for a mission to find Ezra Bridger. When last seen, Ahsoka had gone full Gandalf the White, and her upcoming live-action debut on The Mandalorian will hopefully reveal whether or not she and Sabine were successful.
Maul
Maul managed to survive The Clone Wars thanks to Ahsoka freeing him to cause a little chaos and create a distraction, but it backfired on her when he wrecked the hyperdrive (and therefore destroyed the ship) and then took the only shuttle on board to safety. By around ten years before the events of the original trilogy began, Maul became the head of the criminal organization Crimson Dawn.
Sometime between Solo and the end of Star Wars Rebels Season 2, Maul wound up stranded on Malachor in the attempt to get his hands on the holocron that would unlock the superweapon of a Sith temple. He finally got his shot when Ahsoka, Kanan, and Ezra showed up in search of knowledge, and he successfully tempted Ezra and injured Kanan before being stopped.
Maul temporarily dueled Ahsoka, but Kanan was the one to ultimately take him down. He survived, though, and escaped Malachor in Vader’s TIE fighter. He was back in Season 3 on a crazed attempt to find Obi-Wan and finally exact his revenge. After learning that Obi-Wan was hiding on a planet with “twin suns,” Maul eventually tracked Obi-Wan to Tatooine, although he didn’t reunite with his former nemesis until he wandered around the desert for days.
Exhausted and mad with his need for revenge, Maul didn’t stand a chance against Obi-Wan, who was finally convinced that he needed to duel Maul after Maul connected the dots that Obi-Wan was protecting someone. The fight was over in seconds, with Obi-Wan slicing Maul down the front as graphically as possible on a Disney XD series. Maul died in Obi-Wan’s arms, telling his old enemy that the chosen one (a.k.a. Luke) would “avenge” them.
Rex
While Maul is capital-D DEAD this time and Ahsoka’s future beyond the Season 2 finale is mostly mysterious, Rex’s journey is relatively well-documented thanks to some reveals when he made his Rebels debut. Ahsoka sent the Ghost crew to find Rex, but she “lost track of him a long time ago." Somewhat unkindly, she didn't tell traumatized Order 66 survivor Kanan that they were recruiting clones.
According to Rex (who had exiled himself to a desert planet with Wolffe and Gregor at some point following The Clone Wars), the Emperor retired the clone army because it “outserved its purpose.” Rex also stated that he, Wolffe, and Gregor all removed their control chips, and he “didn’t betray” his Jedi.
While Clone Wars suggested that either Rex was lying in Rebels or the show is contradicting its follow-up series, Rex eventually agreed to join the rebels, and he even stuck with them after Ahsoka seemingly died on Malachor. Still alive after the Ghost team and their allies succeeded in their mission, Rex was revealed via the Rebels epilogue to have survived to fight at the Battle of Endor.
Of course, Rex’s status as a clone means he ages quickly, so he may not be a candidate to show up in Star Wars projects set far beyond the original trilogy era. Will Star Wars ever definitively reveal whether or not Rex was lying to Kanan about the end of The Clone Wars, explain how he joined up with Wolffe and Gregor, or even share how/when Wolffe and Gregor removed their chips? Only time will tell.
For now, you can relive the glory days of these characters with the Star Wars Saga streaming on Disney+, including Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels.
