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Ahsoka Tano Is Proof That Weaker Characters Can Be Redeemed
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Apr 22, 2025
When Ahsoka Tano was first introduced into Star Wars canon in the Clone Wars animated movie, it was clear that fans were not happy with Anakin Skywalker's new Padawan. But as time went on, Dave Filoni and the rest of the Clone Wars staff evolved Ahsoka into being one of the most popular characters in the Star Wars Universe. And now that we have our live action Ahsoka Tano, it seems the fandom will only continue to grow within the Star Wars community.
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This is Ahsoka Tano, a veritable legend in the Star Wars franchise
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Ahsoka is loved by countless people across every generation of fans, but she didn't start
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out that way. In fact, her mere existence was enough to send the fandom into a Sith-like rage
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So what changed to inspire such a powerfully positive shift in public opinion
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In a word, patience. I admit Ahsoka is a little rough around the edges
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but with a great deal of training and patience, she might amount to something
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The character of Ahsoka Tano, voiced by Ashley Eckstein, was created for the Clone Wars TV series by George Lucas and Dave Filoni
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Unfortunately for Ahsoka, her first actual appearance was made in the absolutely abysmal
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2008 Clone Wars animated movie, which released ahead of the show and served as a kind of pilot
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episode. From her first few moments on screen, it was clear that this 14-year-old Tigruta was
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going to make a miserable film-going experience that much worse. Fitting neatly into that bratty
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and precocious child character archetype that was already tired back in 2008, Ahsoka was overconfident
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argumentative, and just plain annoying. Stop calling me that. You're stuck with me, Sky Guy
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Her role as Anakin Skywalker's unwanted Padawan not only contradicted much of the prequel movie
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trilogy, but completely muddled Anakin's story as we had come to know it. No matter how much Yoda
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waxed poetic about Anakin having to learn a lesson about letting go, it simply didn't make sense for
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him to take on a Padawan. This can all be chalked up to the poor writing and quality of the movie
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overall. It wasn't exactly the exciting teaser for the TV show that Filoni and Lucas had hoped
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it would be, and it certainly wasn't a glowing first impression for one particularly brash
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youngling. Nevertheless, the Clone Wars TV show would premiere about a month later. This time
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creative director Dave Filoni and the rest of the creative team would find the audience to be much
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more welcoming Animations had improved somewhat fan characters were back to proper and there were plenty of exciting dogfights and lightsaber battles to keep kids entertained The main complaint was the sheer amount of filler content and downright terrible comedic relief injected into every early episode
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Jedi? Jedi? Where's a Jedi? I do believe they mean you. Me's another Jedi? The more time Star
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Wars fans spent with Ahsoka Tano, the more obvious the problems with her character became. Her
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overconfidence often took the form of her speaking out of turn or rushing herself and others into
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unnecessary danger. Her argumentative nature meant that she balked at the authority of established
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characters and displayed a blatant disrespect for her teachers. So it's okay when you don't follow
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what the council says. Doing what the Jedi council says, that's one thing. How we go about doing it
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that's another. Clearly, this was all intentional. Her behavior was meant to mimic that of her master
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whose ultimate fate we were already aware of. So while seeing Anakin display these traits was a way
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to foreshadow his inevitable downfall, seeing his Padawan fall into the same traps felt repetitive
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and frustrating. This frustration was compounded by the fact that she never seemed to learn
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anything. A lot of the time, her beliefs and actions were confirmed as being correct
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since things usually panned out for her by the end of the episode. Like when she spoke over
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Anakin during a debriefing and insisted they go look for Jedi Master Plo Koon after his fleet
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was destroyed and he was presumed dead. Masoka, I want to believe Master Plo's alive
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I know he's alive. I can sense it. Masoka! This, of course, turned out to be the right thing to do
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as Master Plo and several clone soldiers did, in fact, survive. Instances like this were frustrating for viewers
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who were less than pleased to see a young Padawan be so flagrantly impudent in the face of well-known characters
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like Anakin and Obi-Wan, and then be proven right with little to no consequences
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unlike those aforementioned masters who had struggled due to their own poor decision making
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Through it all, you never gave up. You did a great job. But if I'm getting in trouble for this
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you're going to share some of the blame too. But that would start to change in season 1, episode 19
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Titled Storm over Ryloth, this episode marked the first time Ahsoka was truly held responsible for her actions Not only that but she was shown actually regretting them After brazenly disobeying direct orders during her first outing as a commander of a starfighter
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squadron, several people lost their lives. Even when Anakin tries to shift blame off of her, Ahsoka takes responsibility and genuinely
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understands the gravity of her decision. For once, fans were able to see a glimpse of humanity in the young Padawan
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And when she takes charge again later in the episode, she does so with the counsel of her squad
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It was an important turning point for her and also for fans. It showed viewers that the writers and other creatives behind the Clone Wars actually understood
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Ahsoka's character flaws and were able to at least acknowledge them. With each new season, the quality of the animation improved dramatically due to an increased
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budget, lending all of the characters more individual personality. This helped Ahsoka a great deal, and she was allowed to emote more frequently and interact
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with other characters a lot more naturally. But the real change, as time passed, was in the writing
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Within episodes about the power of the Force, Republic politics, and the cost of war, Ahsoka
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learned more lessons about humility, trust, and the serious responsibility she is burdened
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with as a member of the Jedi Order. Sometimes it would take multiple slip-ups before a lesson finally stuck, but remember
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that the Clone Wars team was employing a virtue in their writing that was also being instilled in
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Ahsoka, patience. I can't let Bane get away. Patience! Master, patience. You're right. Every
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time Ahsoka was presented a new hurdle to clear, it felt natural because we as an audience had
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already watched her fumble so many times before. Entire episodes had already been devoted to Ahsoka
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learning to accept help and not discount the skills and experiences of others before that
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lesson would later be used in a useful and more important context. We had rolled our eyes at her
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failures and cringed at her negligent attitude, but when she was finally able to overcome them
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we cheered for her. This is the genius of the Clone Wars creative team, and particularly Dave
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Floney. Ahsoka's character development was so much more impactful because we had spent so much time
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with her at her very worst can get much closer Sky Guy knew you get here Snips Eventually However over the course of seven seasons and then a few other supplemental works
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she was allowed to move past the worst of her traits while becoming a wise leader
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powerful force user, and good friend. Same as watching a whiny farm boy from a nowhere sand
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planet become a Jedi master. Witnessing a bratty teenager turn into a grief-stricken
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highly capable badass is made all the more poignant when you're able to watch it unfold in
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real time. You're lucky Anakin didn't show up. The way you're fighting, you wouldn't have lost it long
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And as Ahsoka's character was gradually strengthened during the course of the Clone Wars
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so too was the narrative surrounding her. Suddenly, we were seeing the war from her perspective. We
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were learning alongside her just how complicated the conflict was and how the Jedi played into it
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as force-wielding attack dogs. So when the time came for her to leave the order
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I'm sorry, Master, but I'm not coming back. fans that had once hoped the day would come were heartbroken
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We felt her pain as she walked away from the organization she had grown up in
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and the people she had loved as family. We felt her pain as we watched the same family try to butcher her
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while still wearing the painted helmets intended to celebrate her return. And we felt her pain as she struggled to hide her true identity
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while reckoning with her most basic instincts to do good for the people around her
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We felt her pain because we had been there with her every step of the way
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Now, when Ahsoka appears in other Star Wars projects, she comes with this deeply elaborate backstory full of trauma
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years of training, and nuanced lore. Revenge is not the Jedi way
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I am no Jedi. In this way, when she shows up in The Mandalorian and Book of Boba Fett to watch over Grogu
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or in the upcoming Ahsoka TV show to search for Ezra Bridger, her appearance is all the more valuable to the fabric of the world that's being weaved
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She adds depth and color where there may not have been before. Where her existence may have started as something to mock and hate
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it has become a symbol. She represents what the Jedi should be and what it might be again
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And for a lot of fans, that makes her the most important character in the universe
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May the Force be with you
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