Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Ahsoka Episode 5.
The fifth episode ofAhsokais now streaming, and there’s a lot to cover. Now that Sabine (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) has gone off into hyperspace with Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) and Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson), General Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Captain Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) investigate the sight of her disappearance for clues of their friend’s whereabouts.
Meanwhile, missing in a completely different way, Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) is left in the mysterious World Between Worlds after a near-death experience. As she treks through flashbacks and resumes training with her late Jedi Master (Anakin Skywalker, played byHayden Christensenin a triumphant return), there areplenty of Easter eggsand nods to Star Wars lore, drawing largely from the prequels and animated shows. Here’s everything you may have missed!
Anakin Skywalker’s Various Looks
While they may not be hidden, the various looks we get of Anakin throughout this episode are notable, intentional, and call back to specific eras of Star Wars canon. When Ahsoka first encounters him in the World Between Worlds, she sees himas she remembers him best— blue-eyed, his hair long, and sporting his pre-Vader outfit circaStar Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith. Of course, these flashback looks are often interrupted by glimpses of Anakin in his full Darth Vader garb, accompanied by a red lightsaber and the iconic sounds of his breath.
When the scenestake us even further back, his hair gets a bit shorter, matching the look of Anakin fromStar Wars: The Clone Wars. In each of these moments, his outfits closely resemble those of the character’s looks from the animated series. When the moments get closer to the corrupted version of Anakin, his eyes redden and his demeanor resembles that which we witnessed just before his final battle on Mustafar. At one point, when a young Ahsoka watches him march away and the image of Vader swiftly flashes in, his walk almost exactly mirrors the one he took inRevenge of the Sithas he entered the Jedi Temple to carry out Order 66.
Senator Organa
With so many pieces of Star Wars media released from year to year, it can get tricky to keep track ofwhere we’re at in the timeline. Sometimes all you need is one simple line to remind you. Creatures like Grogu may age at a different pace than our own, with that little one surviving Order 66 and still being a baby at the time ofThe Mandalorian, but we’ve still got human characters aging like us!
When Hera Syndulla andCarson Tevaare dealing with messages from the New Republic Senate and the incoming consequences of their unauthorized excursion, Carson tells Hera that “Senator Organa says she can only give us cover for so long.” If you didn’t catch that, yes, he’s referring to Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) herself.
She’s held many titles over the years — Princess, General — but at this point between the fall of the Galactic Empire and the rise of the First Order, Leia is serving as a Senator of the New Republic, and apparently, she’s aiding our Rebels in whatever way she can. Withthe mournful passing of the great Carrie Fisher, we’re unlikely to see Leia on screen again (Disney has already exhausted the use of archival footage and de-aging technology for the character), but nods like these are a heartening reminder of the impact Leia will always hold, even off-screen.
You’ve Seen Ariana Greenblatt More Than You May Realize
Giving an exceptional performance as a young Ahsoka in all the Clone Wars era flashbacks isAriana Greenblatt. Bringing to life the animated Ahsoka that we first came to know and love, Greenblatt holds her own alongside Christensen, while he delivers his best Star Wars performance to date. None of this should come as a surprise; Greenblatt hasproved her ability time and time againthroughout the early stages of what will surely be a fantastic career.
Greenblatt recently shared the screen with countless stars in this summer’sBarbiemovie, co-starred alongsideAdam Driverin the dinosaur-centric sci-fi flick65, and this isn’t even her first time playing the adolescent version of a major character. InLin-Manuel Miranda’sIn the Heights, the movie-musical based on its Broadway predecessor, Greenblatt portrayed a young Nina, and, most notably, she played the young version of Gamora inAvengers: Infinity War.
The Siege of Mandalore
The Star Wars shows seem to be inching closer and closer to giving usthe whole picture of Mandalorian history.Ahsokais no exception, with this week’s episode depicting a small vignette of the Seige of Mandalore. A young Ahsoka commanded the clone soldiers in battle, a battle which occurred after she and Anakin had already parted ways. Based on what we know of Sabine’s past and the parts of it to which the series has alluded, it’s possible that this converging aspect of Sabine and Ahsoka’s histories (pre-Rebelsera) may come into play.
Darth Maul’s Mandalorian Super Commandos
For a long while, if you were solely a viewer of the Star Wars films and never delved into the animated shows or written lore, you tookthe apparent deathof Darth Maul (Ray Park) inStar Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menaceas plain fact. That is, until the live-action Darth Maul returned in the 2018 spin-off filmSolo: A Star Wars Story. Fans of animated Star Wars have known that Maul actually healed from the wound given to him by Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and has had much more fight in him since.
BetweenThe MandalorianandAhsoka, the fall of Mandalore andthe wider backstory of Mandalorianshas slowly been filled in bit by bit, and this episode ofAhsokaintroduces another key component of that story to live-action Star Wars. When Pre Vizsla was killed by Darth Maul, the Death Watch was splintered, with Bo-Katan Kryze leading a faction of loyalists and the rest siding with Maul himself. These Mandalorian traditionalists made modifications to their armor, including red coloring and the Maul-like horns on their helmets that we see here. Known as Mandalorian super commandos, these fighters played a major role inThe Clone Warsanimated series and offer plenty of fodder for the new live-action Star Wars iterations to explore.
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Clone Troopers and Temuera Morrison as Captain Rex
Because much of the Clone Wars took place off-screen or in the animated shows, the relationships between the Jedi and Clone Troopers remained fairly limited in live-action Star Wars. Flashbacks like these inAhsokaare a refreshing reminder of just how close these comrades were to one another. On top of that, it’s great to see the armor, weaponry, and vehicles that prequel fans have surely been missing.
ThroughoutThe Clone WarsandStar Wars Rebels,one of the Clone soldiers at the forefront was Captain (and later Commander) Rex, formerly known simply as CT-7567. In one of this episode’s flashbacks, after a young Ahsoka slays a couple of Maul’s aforementioned Mandalorian super commandos, Rex makes a brief appearance, commending Ahsoka before running back into battle. He’s fittingly voiced byTemuera Morrison,returning toStar Warsafter the prequel films,The Mandalorian, and his own limited series,The Book of Boba Fett.
Ahsoka’s Use of The Force and the Significance of Her White Robes
Ahsoka has continued to showcase her knowledge of The Force to an impressive degree, displaying more than the typical pushes, leaps, and pulls. As she’s done before in the series, Ahsoka practices psychometry, a Force skill that allows her to hear echoes of memory left behind on physical objects or locations. Moreover, we see her hold her hand out and communicate with the giant purrgil that would end up becoming an ally of sorts, taking her and Huyang (David Tennant)off into hyperspace.
When Ahsoka exits the World Between Worlds and returns to life, she briefly recovers and is next seen in a new set of clothes. Adorned in mostly white pieces, this look is reminiscent of one she wore in the post-credits scene ofStar Wars Rebels, a Gandalf-like rebirth as she awakens more steadfast in theLight Side of The Force.
