After an insane expedition that’s spanned two galaxies, Star Wars: Ahsoka has reached its end after eight episodes following the titular Jedi exile Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and her Mandalorian apprentice Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) as they hoped to find Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi) all those years after Star Wars: Rebels with the help of Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).
It’s been a wild month for many Star Wars fans as they’ve watched Ahsoka transform from her apprentice years under Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) to her own version of a Jedi Master.
From traversing dangerous planets untold to the World Between Worlds, each episode has not only helped develop Sabine confidently grow into the perfect warrior, but it has also allowed Ahsoka to finally realize her own hubris in this terrific conclusion.
With Ahsoka coming to an end, its super-sized finale leaves so many details for fans to theorize and explore what’s next in store for the heroic Rebels team, the Force-wielding mercenary duo Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) and Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno), as well as the cold, calculating menace of it all: Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen).
Ahsoka Season 1 Ending Explained
MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
After receiving mystical powers and the aptly named Blade of Talzin from the Great Mothers, Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) has hoped to prove herself to Grand Admiral Thrawn by stopping Ahsoka, Ezra, and Sabine from escaping Peridea. Luckily enough, with everything that Thrawn throws at the trio from his Star Destroyer, all of them manage to make their way to the ancient fortress, though many obstacles block their path from reaching Morgan and Thrawn.
During their fights, the Great Mothers utilize all their magic to conjure up dead Night Troopers and literal Deathtroopers reminiscent of the undead Stoormtroopers from the Legends timeline.
Though they continue to fight their way desperately through the hordes of zombified soldiers, Ezra and Sabine fail to reach the hangar of the Star Destroyer. Meanwhile, Ahsoka gets confronted with a super-powered Morgan in a lightsaber-sword fight that feels really unique in its own regard.
However, Sabine gets a great idea to get them all on the Star Destroyer, which Ezra does as he Force-jumps to the other side. Surprisingly, Sabine decides to stay behind instead as the battle between Ahsoka and Morgan rages at the top of the fortress, taking down Night Troopers alongside Ahsoka. Together, the two successfully kill off Morgan as they escape from the destruction with Huyang’s (David Tennant) assistance.
Unfortunately, the two aren’t able to reach Thrawn’s ship in time, but they do get a timely warning from the Grand Admiral about Ahsoka’s retracing of Anakin’s steps, which may ultimately lead her down a darker path. With that, Thrawn makes the jump as Ahsoka, Sabine, and Huyang are left stranded on Peridea.
Fortunately, the two receive some friendly aid from the little alien friends Ezra introduced them to in the last episode as they solemnly reflect on their future with Morai watching over them from a distance. As they reflect, Sabine manages to sense a Force presence as a “shadow in the starlight” to the confirmation of Ahsoka, who sees Anakin’s Force ghost viewing them.
Meanwhile, Ezra makes his way back to the Rebel fleet much to the suspenseful curiosity of Hera, Chopper, and everyone else. As a heartwarming touch in this finale, Ezra does have a happy reunion with Hera even if the rest of the Rebels team has gone in their own direction.
However, while the final episode may create some optimistic and hopeful feelings for fans, there is a lot to be said about where Ahsoka‘s villains end up.
Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati’s New Quests
As for Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati, the mercenary duo no longer operate under Morgan and have actually gone their separate ways. The reason that Baylan Skoll decided to part ways with Shin Hati is because something, or someone, was calling out to him on Peridea despite the Great Mothers trying to flee from it. Now, this finale might have given a big hint as to who’s calling out to Baylan: Abeloth.
In the Legends timeline, Abeloth helped to keep the balance of her Son and Daughter like the Father but became too enticed by the celestial Force powers that transformed her into something more corrupted but gave her immortality.
The cosmic threat of Abeloth certainly could be the main reason as to why the Great Mothers had to flee Peridea: her cosmic presence and nigh-omnipotent powers are enough to challenge any Force-wielder that dares stand in her way, which makes her the more likely threat to build upon.
So, why is Abeloth calling out to Baylan Skoll? Perhaps the inner emotional conflict within Baylan to hold true to the Jedi ways while further embracing the mortal vices is what makes him a prime candidate for Abeloth to manipulate him into doing her bidding under the guise of “restoring galactic balance”.
In doing so, Baylan could become Abeloth’s vessel or prophet in hopes of mending the balance between light and dark despite Abeloth’s more mysterious plans, which might be connected back to Thrawn’s return.
Unfortunately, with Ray Stevenson’s passing, fans may hope that Baylan could leave a tremendous impact on such a great and compelling performance. Hopefully, should someone take the mantle of Baylan that Ray has left behind, they’ll be able to give an amazing performance of their own.
In Shin Hati’s case, she’s decided to unite the Peridean bandit clan under her hand most likely to find a way back to the galaxy. Most likely due to her master’s abandonment, Shin is hoping to find her own independence in a way that she couldn’t have received under Baylan’s guidance. However, we’ll have to wait and see where Baylan and Shin go next.
Thrawn: Heir to the Fallen Empire
Meanwhile, Grand Admiral Thrawn’s return to the galaxy sets a new imbalance of power in the face of a fractured Galactic Empire. As he makes his return, he decides to travel to Dathomir in hopes of uniting the Empire’s forces by more powerful means than his own.
With Dathomir and the Nightsisters playing an integral role in Thrawn’s plans, it doesn’t seem like utilizing dark Force magic is out of Thrawn’s playbook. In the Star Destroyer’s hangar, there is still a lot of cargo that Thrawn’s packing around, perhaps the corpses of those who survived the journey long enough to die on Peridea.
In a way, Thrawn’s plan actually pulls some elements from the Legends timeline, with Thrawn using Spaarti cloning technology to help create personnel for his missions even though they’d be overcome by the Force in The Last Command, the final book of Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy. By utilizing his own technologies with the necronomic rituals of the Nightsisters, he may be able to accumulate an army more powerful than he had in this show.
As most fans know, the Nightsisters have been scattered throughout the galaxy, but Thrawn is hoping that there may be some power there that can help him succeed, perhaps another Clan Mother. Since Talzin is mentioned here, it’s not far-fetched to see if another Mother is introduced in the future.
If this show’s events connect to upcoming Star Wars shows, such as The Acolyte, there may be some explanation to, or even an expansion of, the Nightsisters’ powers given the synopsis’ foreboding mention of “sinister forces”.
While the future of Star Wars is looking a bit brighter, fans will have to wait and see where Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau take these iconic characters as the stories of Ahsoka, the Ghost crew, and Thrawn are set to continue in Filoni’s upcoming film. Thankfully, Ahsoka has brought so much to the Star Wars universe in ways that bring many generations together in this exceptional finale.
All episodes of Ahsoka are now streaming on Disney+.
