Ahsoka Tano IsStar Wars‘ Biggest Paradox

Star Wars is a franchise with alot of character , but all of them all find rooted in a finicky position in time . you could feel that theSkywalker twinsand Han Solo are mathematical product of the late 1970s to some degree or another . likewise , you could see that someone likeDin Djarinor Mace Windu is tolerate out of the late 2010s and early 2000s , severally . Whether it ’s because of the actor ’s performance or a persona ’s piece of writing , there ’s just something tactile in the melody with much of the players in George Lucas ’ sci - fi world .

Ahsoka Tanois … kind of not that . The star of the upcoming hot - action Ahsoka Disney+ series ( as played by Rosario Dawson ) has subsist in a eldritch plaza for many years , both within the context of Star Wars itself and in the real humankind . Ahsoka was already in a weird spot when she debut as a lead character of Cartoon connection’sStar warfare : The Clone Wars(notthat one ) in 2008 , as a antecedently unmentioned learner to Anakin Skywalker . That was already shaky ground to introduce a character who ab initio seemed to have “ I am croak to drop dead ” written all over her , but that her launching was the profoundly mixed Clone Wars movie .

nipper characters in medium have always faced an uphill battle with fans , andStar Warsis part of where that ugliness halt from . Its fanbasewas all too quick and willing to dislike her at best ( and at bad , actively root for her last ) during those first two seasons , during which she was true a minuscule much in the way that kidskin often are . thing turned around starting with time of year three as she senesce up , came into her own as a Jedi , and started having more of her own adventure without Anakin and Obi - Wan ( or sometimes Plo Koon ) there to play the wise man role . Her growing in those later season was super satisfying to see , which made it all the more gut - wring when the Jedi turned on her at the goal of season five , lead in herleaving the Jedi Orderentirely . Her existence also let Star Wars replete some niche for a newer hearing . She gave Clone Wars watcher a untested female lead for girls to contrive themselves onto , a cool young Jedi who was around the age of the target demographic ( and by extension , one could gradually age alongside them ) , and someone who was n’t fetter to the either of the then - two trilogies .

Image: Disney/Lucasfilm

Ahsoka ’s outgrowth and maturation , and her subsequent popularity , came at the same time that Clone Wars executive manufacturer ( and her co - creator ) Dave Filoni grew into a key creative figurehead for the franchise . Filoni understandably has a balmy berth for the character and has never let her go : she became a guest star in Star Wars Rebels , and was one of the focus points of the first season for last year’sStar Wars : Tales of the Jedi . She ’s effectively the face of Star Wars ’ animation drive in the last 15 years , with the Star Wars : Resistance series being the only adult - name animate projects she has n’t shown up in . She ’s yet to make an show in The Bad Batch , a Clone Wars spinoff , but that could easily change with that show’sthird and net season .

But this is where things get kind of uncanny : to a more passing part of the Star Wars community , Ahsoka is someone they only really foregather via live - action when she first popped up in 2020 withThe Mandalorian ’s 2d season . year have authorize since then , and folks have had time to catch up on her exploit , but that does n’t exchange the fact that she ’s an anomalousness . Over in springy - activity , the enfranchisement has struggle to maintain the episodic highs that drew family line into The Mandalorian while also organically lay the substructure for the sequel trilogy and Dave Filoni ’s movie determine inthe New Republic . The visual aspect of Ahsoka has n’t help matters — Dawson ’s enactment feel so stark compare to Ahsoka ’s voice actorAshley Eckstein , to the point that they ’re basically two separate people , and it ’s even more glaring when see how the likes ofHayden Christensen , Temeura Morrison , and Katee Sackhoff have successfully been able to bridge over their animated and live - natural action counterparts .

Disney hopes Ahsoka wo n’t be soimpenetrable to fledgeling , but that ’s essentially unimaginable . By the very nature of the character , and give way all she ’s rival over her 15 - class lifetime , Ahsoka automatically add up with baggage . She ’s notCal Kestis , who ’s just gravel off the ground , and she ’s notQi’ra , someone who got rework into a major player for another medium . Ahsoka as a fictional character just ca n’t be ignored in that same way , and her series is functioning as an extra time of year to Rebels , a show she was only on for about a 6th of its existence , but which ended by tee her up as a major player in whatever fare next . There ’s no turn tail her prominence , and treat Ahsoka like it can stand on its own just further highlight how weirdly Disney treat itsoriginally invigorate characters . Ironically , her universe became endlessly more complicated the moment Filoni decided to bring her along for his jump to a in high spirits position in Lucasfilm — technically new enough of a character to be exciting while also having enough history to make her stand up there with some of the best Star Wars character .

Image: Disney/Lucasfilm

Image: Disney/Lucasfilm

So much of the marketing for Ahsoka has a made a point to highlightwhat she isin the context of the existence . In the real globe , she ’s a bit of a batch , and a unequalled one at that . There ’ve been other graphic symbol with a standardised “ who is this ? ? ” aura carried over from different medium like Darth Maul , but they have n’t been afforded the probability to get their star power boosted like Ahsoka has . And it ’s up to the show to at last meander that in a elbow room that makes her experience like she ’s becoming whole rather than being so disjointed .

Ahsoka premiere August 23 on Disney+ .

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Image: Disney/Lucasfilm