Countdown to ‘Ahsoka’: Revisiting Season 3 of ‘The Clone Wars’
Welcome back to another installment of Star Wars News Net’s “Countdown to Ahsoka.” Today we are revisiting season 3 of The Clone Wars, which packs a lot of change and growth into its 22 episode run.
Season 3 is most notable as a narrative and technological turning point for the show. We begin the season with the same animation that we see in seasons 1 and 2, but by episode 10 the animation is updated, and both Anakin and Ahsoka are aged up. The most striking differences both visually and narratively are seen in Ahsoka who ditched the bandeau top and white tights for a flashy new tunic, is now wielding two lightsabers and is immediately thrust into more complex and adult storylines. In a valiant, but probably hopeless effort to condense the enormity that is season 3, I’ve highlighted three key episodes or arcs that I believe are the most significant moments for Ahsoka.
Heroes on Both Sides
By season 3, Ahsoka is no stranger to facing real threats, having already survived numerous battles, a deadly virus, and a Genosian brain parasite that nearly led her to kill a close friend. Despite these action-packed and sometimes horror-fueled plots, Ahsoka’s understanding of the greater conflict remained somewhat superficial–everything is a fun adventure and we always make it out alive. In season 3, and in particular, episode 10 Heroes on Both Sides (written by Daniel Arkin), Ahsoka is thrust into the political heart of it all. She still maintains a reckless spirit fostered by Anakin, which she applies in this episode to sneak both her and Padme into Separatist capital, Raxus, to meet with an old friend and colleague of Padme’s, Mina Bonteri.
While on Raxus, Ahsoka learns that Mina Bonteri’s husband died in the war, and their son, Lux is perhaps not the calculating and mechanical face of evil that she has come to associate with the Separatists. Ahsoka is forced to grapple with her preconceptions of the Separatists, and discovers that she possesses a level of empathy toward her enemies that she never felt previously. All of this is happening against the seedy backdrop of political machinations brought on by Count Dooku, and his banking clan conspirators in the Senate. As Ahsoka adjusts to this new world view, so too does the viewer. The world is revealed to be more complex and characters contain multitudes. No longer do we perceive the war as a binary conflict between the spineless actions of Palpatine’s Neimoidian pawns and their droid army versus an ultimately good but weak Republic.
The Mortis Arc
From political thriller to fantasy, The Clone Wars continues to show off its’ genre-bending capabilities with the Mortis arc, beginning with season 3 episode 15 Overlords. Written by Christian Taylor, this arc holds nothing back. Anakin, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan are mysteriously drawn to a realm of ancient and powerful Force users, the Father who represents balance, the Son who represents the dark side, and the Daughter who represents the light side. While there, Anakin, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan are all tested, most of all Anakin, as a result of the Father’s desire to determine if Anakin truly is the chosen one. Throughout this 3-episode arc, viewers see a condensed version of the entire saga play out.
Ahsoka, possessed by the Son, is manipulated into fighting Anakin and Obi-Wan on his behalf, securing a magic dagger that the Son intends to use on his Father. Once she has successfully delivered the dagger, the Son kills her and Anakin pleads in anguish with the Father and the Daughter to do something to save Ahsoka’s life. Enter Morai. When the Daughter sacrifices her life force to save Ahsoka, a convor that is a spiritual representative of the Daughter is attached to Ahsoka. We see Morai in both Star Wars: Rebels and The Mandalorian. Morai is a visible reminder of Ahsoka’s rebirth and strong attachment to the light side of the force.
Below is the first close-up look we receive of Morai from Star Wars: Rebels:
The Trandoshan Hunt Arc
The season caps off with what may be my favorite Ahsoka arc throughout all of her story so far, the Trandoshan hunt. The two-episode arc kicks off with season 3, episode 21 Padawan Lost and finishes with the season 3 finale, Wookiee Hunt, both written by Bonnie Mark.
If you’re unfamiliar with this arc, it begins with Ahsoka captured by a group of Trandoshan sport hunters, who kidnap individuals of various species and drop them on a secluded island as prey for ritualistic hunts. The stronger, bigger, or smarter the prey, the better. On the Trandoshan ship, we see a collection of Wookiee pelts, Wampa pelts, Twi’lek lekku, and other assorted and macabre trophies. Once on the island, without a comlink or any other easy access to help, Ahsoka is forced to go to ground. While evading the Trandoshans, a group of Jedi Younglings find her and welcome her into their fold. The Younglings are jaded, and focus only on survival, initially resisting Ahsoka’s attempts to escape. In the end, Ahsoka leads them to freedom, but not without casualties (R.I.P. Kalifa) and the help of a certain famous Wookiee.
At this point, Ahsoka is proven capable and we’ve seen her tested without Anakin’s help already (season 3, episode 4 Sphere of Influence and episode 7 Assassin to name a couple of examples), but the Trandoshan hunt is a challenge on a new level. Ahsoka must use every skill at her disposal, not just fighting foes stronger than her, but outwitting them, as well as fostering hope for her fellow lost Jedi on the island and emboldening them to manifest their own freedom. She arrives back on Coruscant in one piece, but changed. Just as she adjusted to the complexity of the Separatist cause in Heroes on Both Sides and developed new empathy for her enemies, so too is she adjusting to a new level of brutality that she hadn’t yet known. Her world continues to grow in scope and breadth, there are pockets of light, but there are new depths also. The trial she faces in this arc propels her character to handle the even tougher challenges that await her.
I hope the Ahsoka we see in her upcoming series demonstrates the same resilience, tenacity, and faith that we see in season 3 of The Clone Wars, even if it takes her a couple episodes to get there.
Check back tomorrow for the next article in our “Countdown to Ahsoka” series.
Ahsoka airs on Disney Plus with a two-episode premiere on August 23rd.
When she isn't watching her friends and family's eyes glaze over at the mention of The Clone Wars, she's at the park with her dog, Melvin, or on the couch with a book in one hand and a drink in the other. Physically, she lives in Ohio; spiritually, she lives in Naboo.
