Where Was Ahsoka During The Star Wars Original Trilogy?

Although she plays a large role in the Star Wars continuity, Ahsoka Tano is noticeably absent in the original trilogy. While the real-life reason is that she hadn’t yet been created by Lucasfilm’s Dave Filoni for the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series, the in-universe reason has yet to be revealed. This is rather odd, considering just how integral she was to making the Galactic Civil War happen in the first place, and the Star Wars timeline as a whole.

As seen in the Star Wars Rebels animated series, which takes place in the years before the first Star Wars movie, Ahsoka was active under the codename “Fulcrum.” Through this covert persona, the former Jedi acted as an informant who helped coordinate individual rebel cells across the galaxy, culminating in what would eventually become the Rebel Alliance. However, Ahsoka later chose to take a more public role alongside fellow Jedi survivor Kanan Jarrus and his apprentice Ezra Bridger and the rest of The Ghost‘s crew. This, in turn, led directly to the mysterious reason why she’s nowhere to be found in the original trilogy.

Ahsoka Disappeared Shortly Before The Star Wars Original Trilogy

In the Star Wars Rebels season 2 finale, Ahsoka’s efforts helping The Ghost crew and Phoenix Squadron resulted in a duel with Darth Vader himself. Having deduced that the Dark Lord of the Sith was once her master Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka refused to retreat. As she and Vader fought at the top of the powerful Sith temple on Malachor, Ashoka was saved by a future version of Ezra, who accessed this moment in the past via the Force vengeance known as the World Between Worlds.

While this experience outside of time and space explained Ahsoka’s appearance in Rebels season 4, she had Ezra send her back to the past on Malachor, where she then disappeared into the ruins of the Sith temple while Vader left the world, unsure of Tano’s fate. This was the last time Ahsoka was seen ahead of her appearance in The Mandalorian season 2 on the planet Corvus, taking place five years after the fall of the Empire and the end of the original trilogy. As such, there’s quite a large gap of time during the Galactic Civil War where Ahsoka’s whereabouts are still unknown.

The Ahsoka Disney+ TV Show Reveals Ahsoka Was Training Sabine During The OT Era

The Ahsoka Disney+ TV show revealed Ahsoka subsequently took the Mandalorian Sabine Wren as a Padawan, and some dialogue has indicated they were working together during the Galactic Civil War. There are hints Sabine sensed her homeworld of Mandalore was threatened, and attempted to persuade Ahsoka to go there. She did not, and the Purge of Mandalore – also known as the Night of a Thousand Tears – laid waste to the planet. The Purge was part of Emperor Palpatine’s Operation: Cinder, a contingency plan he made in case he was killed, which confirms that their training lasted at least until the end of the Galactic Civil War.

It’s also possible Ahsoka’s encounter with Darth Vader left her afraid of what she too could become. Ahsoka knew Anakin Skywalker had shaped her in his own image, teaching her to be a soldier first and foremost, and she had now seen that this philosophy led inexorably to the dark side. This would fit with scenes in the Ahsoka Disney+ TV show, but has not been explicitly confirmed. They did experience a rift in their relationship, though, which helps better explain Ahsoka’s actions during the original trilogy.

Ahsoka & Sabine Separated A Year After Return Of The Jedi

Ahsoka eventually stopped training Sabine because they both had an issue with patience, but Ahsoka also hinted at another factor in that decision. After Ahsoka refused Sabine’s pleas to go to Mandalore, there are suggestions that she blamed Ahsoka for the Great Purge and thought that it could have been stopped if they had intervened. Since Ahsoka confirmed when the Great Purge took place, it meant that they separated in the year after Return of the Jedi. That also confirms that Sabine’s training took up all of Ahsoka’s time and explained her absence in the original trilogy.

It’s impossible to tell what kind of effect Ahsoka would have had on Star Wars if she had played a bigger role in the Galactic Civil War. Had she not been preoccupied training Sabine, she might have been a mentor and ally to Luke. Having access to Ahsoka’s knowledge of the Force would have made him a much more capable Jedi much earlier, and could have even eliminated the need for him to travel to Dagobah in The Empire Strikes Back. Sabine also wouldn’t have been trained as a Jedi, though, so Ahsoka’s absence in Star Wars‘ original trilogy might have ultimately been for the best.