At the end of the fourth episode of Ahsoka, a masterpiece of an episode that took the series to a whole new level, Ahsoka falls off a cliff and awakens in a strange realm.
It’s a brilliant film transition by director Peter Ramsey, as we move from the waves to Ahsoka waking up on a transparent walkway among the stars. She then hears the voice of her old master, Anakin Skywalker, and turns around to see him standing there in front of her. This is how the episode ends. It’s a thrilling moment, and a dream come true for fans of the animated shows to see Anakin and Ahsoka on screen together in live action. But it also led to a number of questions, namely: where is Ahsoka at?
Buckle up, because we’re about to dive deep into the mythos of the Force and the mystical side of the galaxy. And I’d guess that next week will be the wildest, weirdest Star Wars to have graced the live-action screens. Ahsoka is in the World Between Worlds, which was created by Ahsoka showrunner Dave Filoni for Star Wars Rebels – the animated series that serves as a direct prequel to this live-action one.
What is the World Between Worlds?
The World Between Worlds is a realm within the cosmic Force that connects time and space. This plane exists outside of those constraints and links them together through a number of doors, gateways to moments past, present, and future. It was written about in ancient Jedi texts, known by the more technical term of the Vergence Scatter, but remained quite elusive and mysterious. Emperor Palpatine grew fascinated by it and wanted access to it, but failed to get it. There was a known access point to it on Lothal, through a painting of the mystical Mortis gods. It would appear there’s another access point on Seatos, which wouldn’t be a shock given it also seems to be a rather mysterious place too.
What the World Between Worlds is NOT, though, is a way for Star Wars to introduce a multi-verse, or time travel. There is no such thing as a multi-verse in this franchise, and this realm connects places within this same universe, not different ones. Nor is the fact that there are other galaxies (which is not a new revelation) lend toward a multi-verse idea either. Furthermore, the World Between Worlds is not a way for Star Wars to introduce time travel, at least in the way other movies have. In fact, Dave Filoni has spoken publicly about how this is specifically not about time travel, but just a place that occurs outside of time. The lesson that Ezra Bridger had to learn in the World Between Worlds was actually that he should not change the past – so this is not a way for the franchise to introduce another timeline or time travel.
Where has it shown up before?
On that note, Ahsoka’s been there before, in Rebels, as has Ezra Bridger, and they heard a number of voices abounding throughout the space – voices from the prequel, original, and sequel trilogies, meaning all eras of Star Wars. But Ezra also saw a door that, as he peered into it, showed him an event from the past, where Ahsoka dueled Darth Vader. Seeing Ahsoka was in trouble, Ezra reached through the door and pulled her out of it, saving her life and bringing her through time to the present moment. He then figured that if he could do it with Ahsoka he could do it with his master, Kanan Jarrus, who had recently sacrificed his life to save his friends. Ezra finds the portal, but Ahsoka tells him that if he changes that moment, he and his friends would die without Kanan’s sacrifice – meaning he’s forced to watch Kanan die all over again, while he could save him, because he knows he can’t.
After fending of an attempt from Palpatine to get access to it, Ezra and Ahsoka part ways. Ezra leaves the realm, closing and destroying the access point on Lothal. Ahsoka, meanwhile, stayed in the World Between Worlds a bit longer before exiting, returning to Malachor, the site of her duel against Vader.
The episode of Rebels, fittingly titled “A World Between Worlds”, aired near the very end of the series and was, in my estimation, the very best episode of the very best Star Wars show to-date. This whole idea could get real weird in the wrong hands, but it’s also awesome in the right hands – and I trust Dave Filoni to handle it well.
How is Anakin there?
Of course, even for those familiar with the World Between Worlds there’s a big question: what’s Anakin doing there? By this point in the timeline he’s dead, so he could appear as a Force ghost. But while it makes sense to think that Force ghosts might have something to do with this World Between Worlds, we haven’t seen that before. Plus, Anakin is wearing his Revenge of the Sith outfit rather than the Jedi robes he wears when he’s a Force ghost at the end of Return of the Jedi. Which means that it’s at least possible that this is Anakin having found his way into the World Between Worlds during the Clone Wars, meeting Ahsoka from the future. The fact that the Imperial March plays as the episode cuts to the credits is a bit ominous, too. All I’m saying is that there might be more at play here than we are led to think initially. If that’s the case, Ahsoka might be faced with a choice much like Ezra was in the World Between Worlds: what if she could save her master from his fate, but in so doing doom others by her actions?
All of this is speculation, of course, but we’ll find out more next week. It’s just as likely – and much easier – that this is Anakin’s Force ghost. We’ve not known the World Between Worlds as the afterlife in the Force, but there’s still a lot we don’t know. Maybe this was even connected to the netherworld of the Force Yoda refers to! We simply don’t know. But what we can be sure of is that next week’s episode figures to be quite insane, from the spiritual side of Star Wars. And I can’t wait.
Is Ahsoka dead?
There’s one more question worth bringing up, because many have wondered whether Ahsoka is dead or not. And the answer is decisively un-clear: we don’t know. But I’m almost positive that, from a narrative standpoint, this is supposed to serve as a sort of “death” for Ahsoka, whether she’s really dead or not. Here at the midway point of the season, Ahsoka has been defeated, her padawan has gone with the enemy, and the villains are on their way to find Thrawn. This is the low point, a moment of defeat, a moment of death for our main character. And that’s intentional.
Dave Filoni has long compared Ahsoka Tano to Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings, drawing inspiration from him. Remember Gandalf’s arc: in fighting the Balrog he falls to his “death”, but is revived and sent back to Middle Earth for the purpose of aiding his friends in the War of the Ring. Now, also remember that when he fell he was Gandalf the Gray, but when he returns he is Gandalf the White. That’s a significant deal in J.R.R. Tolkien’s mythos, and at one point years ago when someone joked about Ahsoka showing up as Ahsoka the White Filoni said that it was closer than they might think, but it was important to understand all it meant for Tolkien and Gandalf – and therefore would mean for Ahsoka.
This isn’t just wishful speculation, either. The ending scene of episode two in this series, where Ahsoka and Sabine meet again on Lothal to head off on their quest, is almost an identical re-creation from the epilogue of Rebels – with one big difference: Ahsoka in Rebels shows up in all white garments, while Ahsoka here shows up in all gray. That’s not an accident. Rosario Dawson, who plays Ahsoka in live action, talked about this idea earlier this summer: “Dave and I talked a lot about Gandalf the Gray and Gandalf the White — talking about that transition and how she’s someone very capable and excellent and looked up to as a leader, but she still has levels of development to go.”
In other words, to summarize this, whether or not Ahsoka is actually dead, I think we’re seeing her “death” like Gandalf before she returns with renewed purpose to fight for the galaxy (or, I suppose, galaxies). Which probably means Ahsoka the White is on the way.
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