Does Ahsoka Tano Die in Star Wars Rebels?
Following events in Star Wars rebels, a big question asked by fans of the show was: Does Ahsoka Tano Die? Ahsoka Tano’s life has included adventure and participation in major events throughout the Star Wars shows.
Highlights of the journey of Ahsoka Tano include training as Anakin Skywalker’s padawan, becoming Commander Fulcrum of the Rebel alliance and fighting her former master in a duel to the death.
Table of Contents
How Ahsoka Tano died
Lets look at the events surrounding how Ahsoka died. Or whether she died at all. If you are a fan of Star Wars Rebels or the Clone wars, this article follows the life and death of Ahsoka.
Introduced in the Clone Wars animated series as a teenager from Togruta, Tano goes on to become one of the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy.
Although she quits the Jedi Order, Tano continues her force training independently, eventually forming the Rebel Alliance. In the process, she survives the Jedi Purge and a fight with her former master, who has become the Sith Lord, Darth Vader.
One question that the two animated series, The Clone Wars and Rebels don’t answer is whether Ahsoka eventually falls in battle or dies of natural causes.
Why Did Ahsoka Quit The Jedi Order?
Ahsoka decided to end her association with the Jedi Order after she was accused of treason and murder by a fellow Padawan, Barriss Offree. Her faith is broken when the Order not only refuses to back her claims of innocence but almost orders her execution.
Her master, Anakin Skywalker, is also deeply impacted by the Council’s actions, despite being the one who proves Tano’s innocence. Thus, the powerful Jedi also begins to distrust the Order, beginning his turn to the dark side.
It would be 10 years before Skywalker would encounter his friend Tano again, but by this time Anakin had become Darth Vader.
To protect her friends, including Ezra Bridger, and enable their escape, Tano duels her former master. During their confrontation, Ahsoka tries to talk to Anakin, who she wants to believe is still there under Vader’s helmet.
The epic fight unfolded at the end of Rebels season 2 and left everyone believing that Vader’s former padawan had made the ultimate sacrifice to save her comrades.
Ahsoka vs. Darth Vader
The hour-long second season finale of Star Wars Rebels titled “Twilight of the Apprentice”, premiered on March 30th, 2016, on Disney XD.
In the episode, Ezra Bridger is confronted by Darth Vader, who has arrived at the Sith Temple on Malachor in a Tie Fighter and has his lightsaber ignited. The Sith Lord quickly defeats Ezra and breaks his sabre in the process. Before Vader can kill his now unarmed opponent, Ahsoka Tano intervenes.
Vader tells his former padawan that they don’t need to fight and the Emperor will show mercy if Tano helps to hunt down the remaining Jedi, but Ahsoka rebukes him for having the Inquisitors kill all their former comrades.
When her former master threatens Ezra in reply, Tano is outraged, claiming she can’t believe that Anakin Skywalker had become so vile. The Sith Lord then tells her that Anakin was weak and that Darth Vader had destroyed him.
When Ahsoka then promises to avenge his death, Vader chides her that revenge isn’t the Jedi way. The former padawan quickly retorts that she is no Jedi.
In the meantime, working together, Ezra and Kanan are able to remove the Sith Holocron from the obelisk, causing the Sith Temple to collapse in on itself. The story then returns to Ahsoka and her former master, who continue their dual until Vader gets the upper hand and throws her out of the building into a chasm below.
The Sith Lord soon arrives at the obelisk and begins to use the force to pull the Holocron toward him, though he’s opposed by Ezra. During this contest of wills, Ahsoka reappears and attacks Vader, knocking his lightsaber out of his hand and damaging his helmet.
His mask half torn off and face visible, it is Anakin’s voice that calls out Ahsoka’s name. At that moment, Tano only sees her former master and tells him she won’t leave him.
Vader seems to consider this a moment before replying, “Then you will die,” and igniting his lightsaber as the Temple begins to close around them.
Ezra tries to come to Ahsoka’s aid but she force pushes him away from the Temple and into the Phantom starfighter. With the fight between Vader and Ahsoka still ongoing Kanan, Chopper and Ezra escape from Malachor in the waiting ship.
As they are escaping, the Temple explodes and engulfs the surrounding area in what appears to be a death sentence for the pair of combatants still inside. Aboard the Phantom, Kanan tries to comfort a weeping Ezra, with both believing they’ve lost their friend and mentor.
How Is Ahsoka Tano Alive?
It turns out that Ahsoka Tano is still alive after this battle, playing a role in comics and other productions in franchise canon. So, how is Ahsoka Tano alive?
She returns in Rebels season 4 and reveals that Ezra Bridger saved her by travelling through time on Mustafar. How this happened is explained in the Season 4 episode, ‘A World Between Worlds’.
Two years after his escape from Mustafar, Ezra entered the timeless realm, called the World Between Worlds to bring back his master, Kanan Janus, who had sacrificed himself earlier in the season. Instead, he arrived at the point in time just before Vader is about to cut her down and saves Tano.
How Does Ezra Bridger Save Ahsoka?
In a 4th season episode titled, ‘DUME’, the protagonist of Star Wars: Rebels, Ezra Bridger is mourning the loss of his master Kanan Janus on his homeworld, Lothal.
He runs into one of the planet’s native species, a Loth-wolf named Dume who tells him to, “restore the past, save the future,” and sends him to Lothal’s Jedi Temple, which is under threat from the Empire.
The wolf’s name is significant because Bridger’s former master’s given name was Caleb Dume.
With help from a rebel named Sabine Wren, Ezra is able to open a door in the Jedi Temple that leads to the World Between Worlds, a place that exists outside of space and time. During his travels, he hears voices from many of the films and television shows that take place within the Star Wars universe.
He soon finds a portal that leads him to the fight that took place between Darth Vader and Ahsoka Tano in the second season episode, “Twilight of the Apprentice”.
With his friend about to meet her end, Ezra reaches out through time and pulls her into the World Between Worlds, saving her life despite Emperor Palpatine also entering the portal and trying to capture the two heroes just prior to their escape.
Follow this link to find out more about Star Wars and the range of characters in the Star Wars galaxy.
This article: Does Ahsoka Tano Die? is an in-depth article exploring one of our favourite Star Wars characters. If you want to find out more about Ahsoka Tano and her character in Star Wars read more on our page dedicated to Ahsoka Tano.
