Gandalf would be proud: Ahsoka Tano follows in the footsteps of the legendary Lord of the Rings wizard as part of her personal Star Wars series. Image source: Warner Bros.
Anyone who knows (and loves) Lord of the Rings is unlikely to have missed an interesting parallel in the latest Star Wars series: after Gandalf had already shown it, Ahsoka has now died, only to return in a white robe and more powerful than ever .
Ahsoka, that Grey white
What exactly is it about? In episode 4, Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzu) faced their opponents Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) and Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno). The confrontation doesn’t go as planned, however, as Ahsoka is defeated by Baylan and pushed down a cliff, while Sabine joins them in the hope of finding the missing Ezra Bridger.
In episode 5 of her own Star Wars series, Ahsoka finds herself in the so-called world between worlds, where she meets her old master Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen). It is strongly implied that Ahsoka really died, because the (ex-)Jedi can only return to the living once she has learned a final lesson.
Ahsoka must come to terms with the fact that she is not responsible for Anakin’s fall to the dark side and that she cannot let her past control her. She succeeds in this and with a lot of visual symbolism it is made clear that Ahsoka emerges from her reunion with her old master purified and therefore more powerful and wiser than ever.
Another death for Ahsoka, who now seems to have reached the end of her personal development. Image source: Disney/Lucasfilm
And of course there are obvious parallels to Lord of the Rings: Like Gandalf, Ahsoka falls down a cliff while fighting a powerful enemy, then fights for her life and faces a task she has not yet fulfilled. Instead of a Balrog, Ahsoka has to deal with a hulk of a man and ends up continuing her journey with space whales instead of eagles.
How Lord of the Rings Inspires Dave Filoni’s Star Wars
By the way, showrunner Dave Filoni makes no secret of it, that the parallels between Ahsoka and Gandalf are intentional. This was already illustrated with a sketch in 2019 X (formerly Twitter) and also before the start of Ahsoka, Filoni and Rosario Dawson pointed out in interviews (for example with Nerdist or Entertainment Weekly) thereupon.
And then of course there is the end of the animated series Rebels, which almost spoiled this development by Ashoka: Here too, the heroine can be seen in a white robe, but this was immediately reversed with her personal series. Dave Filoni at least now had the opportunity to cover Ahsoka’s transformation in more detail.
Ahsoka was already seen in her white robe in the finale of Rebels. Her own series picked up these scenes again, but put Ahsoka back in gray clothes. Image source: Disney/Lucasfilm
The Star Wars fans are thrilled
By the way, the Ahsoka/Gandalf parallel is met with a lot of love among fans. The development of the Star Wars heroine is, among other things, considered bloody brilliant
We have treated a few meaningful reactions for you as follows:
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By the way: This is Ahsoka’s third appearance in Star Wars history died
: Once in The Clone Wars, when she and Obi-Wan Kenobi encounter the so-called Guardians of the Force. Then for the second time, when Ahsoka has to deal with Darth Vader in Rebels and can only cheat her death with the help of Ezra Bridger and the world between worlds.
Through each of them Deaths
Ahsoka became wiser and more powerful, but the most important of these would inevitably have been shaped by her big reunion with Anakin Skywalker. You can read more about the Ahsoka series and how it brings massive changes to the entire Star Wars universe at the following links:
How much did you like the latest episode of Ahsoka? Overall, how satisfied are you with the current Star Wars series on Disney Plus? What do you think of the obvious parallel between Ahsoka and Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings? What hopes and expectations do you have for the upcoming episodes of the Star Wars series? Let us know in the comments!
