This week's Your Nerd Side Show:
Ahsoka is rapidly proving itself to be one of the most exciting Star Warsevents in years, as Dave Filoni delivers the perfect follow-up to his beloved animated series. The Disney+ series focused primarily on Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) as she desperately attempts to keep the villainous Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) from returning to menace the galaxy once more. With the help of her new Padawan, Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), Ahsoka is now about to face the biggest challenge in her life--which could change the course of the franchise forever.
Ahsoka's fourth episode ended with Sabine's surprise decision to help Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) and his apprentice, Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno), complete the star map to locate Grand Admiral Thrawn. Ahsoka, in the meantime, wakes up in a mysterious location after being kicked off of a ledge in a duel with Skoll. She is even more surprised when she is approached by her former master, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), leading her to realize that she's somehow traveled to the mystical World Between Worlds. Now finding herself in the mostly unexplored--and unexplained--pocket dimension, Ahsoka is about to face the biggest temptation she has ever endured in her life.
The World Between Worlds Is Ahsoka's Greatest Temptation
While Ahsoka's villains jump to a new galaxy, Ahsoka Tano is facing a much bigger trial outside the realm of space and time. Having somehow arrived in the World Between Worlds, there is a tremendous amount of power at Ahsoka's fingertips. This mystical dimension was first introduced in the final season of Star Wars: Rebels, where it was discovered by Ezra Bridger. There, Ezra was able to pull Ahsoka through a portal, saving her from certain death at the hands of Darth Vader and bringing her back to the present day. Having learned that he had the power to alter the timeline, Ezra very nearly did the same for his fallen master, Kanan Jarrus, if not for Ahsoka Tano's wise counsel that changing one's past is never a good idea.
However, with the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn imminent and the galaxy on the verge of another war, Ahsoka may find herself tested by the very same temptation from which she rescued Ezra: she could change her history. No one fully understands the World Between Worlds, but it seems quite likely that its power could change any point in the history of the Star Wars franchise. With such power at her fingertips, Ahsoka may find it more difficult than she had anticipated to resist using the World Between Worlds to alter the course of history in an effort to make things better. She may find that resisting this pull is far more difficult than fighting Sith Lords and Inquisitors.
What Would Ahsoka Change From Her Past?
Seeing the Force ghost of Anakin Skywalker may drudge up enough tragic memories to spur Ahsoka to change not only her past but that of her fallen friend. Anakin's downfall was a turning point for the entire Star Wars saga, as he used his power to destroy the Jedi Order and usher in the age of the Empire as Darth Vader. Going back and changing events so that Anakin never fell to the dark side would be an intriguing possibility for Ahsoka. After years of mourning what Anakin had become, she could finally save him--and the entire galaxy.
After years of considering how she could have helped Anakin, Ahsoka would already know the perfect point on the Star Wars timeline to change: her departure from the Jedi Order. From Ahsoka's perspective, her decision to leave Anakin behind at the end of The Clone Wars' fifth season was the moment that everything went wrong. Having left her master behind, she doomed him to walk a dark path alone. While it is possible that Ahsoka wouldn't have been able to stop Anakin's downfall even if she had been present, she doesn't believe that. By changing the past, Ahsoka could make it so that she never left Anakin's side--and it just might prove possible that she could steer him away from becoming Darth Vader. However, doing so would change a major turning point in the galaxy and cause untold destruction to the Star Wars timeline.
Ahsoka Tano's return to the World Between Worlds sets her up to face the biggest challenge of her life: resisting the opportunity to fix her biggest mistakes. While Ahsoka has the chance to set things right, doing so would only doom the galaxy in the long run. Therefore, the most heroic thing that Ahsoka could do is nothing at all.
Ahsoka streams new episodes on Tuesdays at 6pm PT/9pm ET on Disney+.
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