Countdown to ‘Ahsoka’: Revisiting ‘The Clone Wars’ Season 7
Star Wars News Net is counting down to the premiere of ‘Ahsoka’ on Disney Plus with a series of articles looking back at the titular character’s journey over the past 15 years. This article reexamines Ahsoka’s journey in the seventh season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Feel free to also check out our other articles in this series, including why Ahsoka switched to two lightsabers, and the evolution of Ahsoka’s visual design.
Ahsoka has a history of disappearing, reappearing, then disappearing again. It happened in Star Wars: Rebels. And it also happened in Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 7. After disappearing in Star Wars: Rebels, Ahsoka reappeared briefly to wrap up the loose ends of The Clone Wars series, only to then disappear again (albeit, also briefly).
In 2018, when it was announced at San Diego Comic-Con that a seventh and final season of The Clone Wars was in the works, many fans did not see it coming. A lot of people thought the series was over and done and that Ahsoka’s story from The Clone Wars was over. But as Ahsoka and creator Dave Filoni has shown, the character always tends to come back in ways fans don’t always expect.
The seventh season of The Clone Wars is broken up into three four-episode arcs. The first arc centers on Task Force 99, AKA The Bad Batch, and formally introduces the “defect” elite squad. But the second and third arcs center on Ahsoka and her encounter with the Martez sisters, Bo-Katan, and Darth Maul. These two arcs couldn’t be more different from one another. Many would even argue that these two arcs represent the highs and lows of the series overall. But either way, both arcs serve as an important examination into the character of Ahsoka and her overall journey from being an outcast, to a leader, to a Jedi, and to then becoming a survivor.
The Martez Sisters
The sheer mention of the Martez sisters is likely to cause some groaning among fans. The Martez sisters exhibit many of the “annoying” character traits that Star Wars fans tend to despise. But regardless of personal feelings about the sisters themselves, the journey Ahsoka goes on with them is what helps lead Ahsoka back to the Jedi Order and to the attention of Bo-Katan.
While Ahsoka is living on Coruscant, trying to make a living outside of the Jedi Order, she ends up meeting Trace and Rafa Martez. Both sisters end up stringing Ahsoka along on a spice run that gets all three of them captured. But through this journey, the Martez sisters get a better understanding of the Jedi, and Ahsoka remembers the important responsibility of being a Jedi.
While these four episodes can be considered “filler,” the development the characters experience is important. For one, the Martez sisters mirror Anakin and Ahsoka’s relationship. Trace, the younger, more brash, and naive sister resembles Ahsoka in her beginning days. Rafa, the older, tougher, and more experienced sister resembles Anakin. It’s through this experience that Ahsoka recalls back to what Anakin taught her, and helps her to appreciate him and his sacrifices.
Also, the Martez sisters remind Ahsoka of what it truly means to be a Jedi. The Martez sisters blame the Jedi for inadvertently killing their parents when the Jedi were attempting to recapture Ziro the Hutt. In the Jedi’s attempts at “preserving peace and order,” sometimes, there are unintended consequences that have lasting effects on those most innocent and most vulnerable. And the Martez sisters help remind Ahsoka that it’s those individuals that she as a Jedi must help out the most. This then leads to Ahsoka helping Bo-Katan, as Bo-Katan recruits help in her effort to retake her home planet of Mandalore.
Siege of Mandalore
The “Siege of Mandalore” arc is considered by fans to be some of — if not — the best Clone Wars episodes ever made. Many scenes in these episodes are considered to be high points within all of Star Wars. The duel between Maul and Ahsoka, Ahsoka escaping Order 66, and the Clone funeral marking the end of The Clone Wars are all iconic moments. While many fans already “knew” what was going to happen, watching it all unfold still had many twists and exciting moments that helped to inform the character of Ahsoka.
With Anakin and Obi-Wan busy rescuing Chancellor Palpatine, Ahsoka works with Bo-Katan to retake Mandalore from Darth Maul. With mere moments away from Order 66, Maul tries to tell Ahsoka that Anakin is soon to fall to the Dark Side, but Ahsoka’s faith in her master causes her to not believe Maul. Ahsoka then captures Maul, but with Order 66 just then commencing, she has to free him, allow him to escape, and then work with Captain Rex to survive. All of these events establish Ahsoka as the individual seen in Rebels: a fugitive who no longer sees herself as a Jedi.
While there are many amazing action moments to discuss, there are also a bunch of small interactions that help to shape Ahsoka’s entire future. When Ahsoka captures Maul, she reports back to Mace Windu and Master Yoda and states she was only doing her duty as a Republic citizen, not as a Jedi. Ahsoka then asks Mace Windu and Master Yoda about Anakin and the state of the war. But Mace dismisses her questions, referring back to her as a “citizen” and no longer part of the Jedi Order. It’s a sharp reminder of Ahsoka’s mistreatment in season 5 and is also part of the reason why Ahsoka never rejoined the Jedi, and why she doesn’t see herself as being a Jedi in Rebels.
Ahsoka also has many opportunities to try and stop Anakin from turning to the Dark Side but never does so. And for that reason, it informs much of the guilty conscience that Ahsoka carries with her throughout Rebels, and even into The Mandalorian. Maul warns Ahsoka that Darth Sidious has been grooming Anakin to be his newest apprentice, but she can’t believe Anakin would ever do such a thing. And when Yoda asks Ahsoka if she wants him to tell Anakin anything, she withholds this crucial information. As if turning her back on her master wasn’t already painful enough, she then has to live with the burden of knowing she had the chance to save Anakin but didn’t take it.
Some of the Most Important Moments In Ahsoka’s History
There are so many more scenes within these eight episodes that are worth discussing. One could also talk about Ahsoka’s relationship with Bo-Katan, her chats with Obi-Wan Kenobi, her duel with Maul, her relationship with Captain Rex, and the moment when Ahsoka drops her lightsaber on the ground to fake her death. But truly, season 7 of The Clone Wars contains some of the most pivotal moments in Ahsoka’s life, as these moments help to shape her into the person fans see in Rebels, The Mandalorian, and possibly the upcoming Ahsoka series. These moments have helped to define who she is and also solidified her as one of our favorite characters in all of Star Wars.
Born and raised in Hawaii, Jay Goodearl runs the YouTube Gaming channel “Good Games, Dude” His channel aims to open up video games to beginners and immediate players and help them understand what makes games the art form that it is.
