Countdown to ‘Ahsoka’: When Did Ahsoka Start Using Two Lightsabers and Why?
Welcome back to another installment of Star Wars News Net’s “Countdown to Ahsoka” series. Today we discuss what were once common questions among the Star Wars fandom, when did Ahsoka begin using two lightsabers, and why?
When The Clone Wars was released, Ahsoka’s design only shows her using a single lightsaber. This remained the case until the design update in season 3 (check out our deep dive on The Clone Wars season 3 for more detail on Ahsoka’s journey during that time), at which point it was revealed that she had begun to carry two lightsabers, her original green blade, and a smaller, shoto lightsaber with a yellow-green blade. Using the two lightsabers, she adapted to a Jar’Kai fighting style while still continuing to use her characteristic reverse grip.
In The Clone Wars, these additions to Ahsoka’s gear and fighting style are implemented unexplained. It wasn’t until 2018 in the Star Wars: Forces of Destiny YouTube series that the origin of Ahsoka’s second lightsaber was addressed. The episode Teach You, I Will, shows Ahsoka, Anakin and Yoda in the dojo dueling. During the duel, Ahsoka is learning how to fight with two lightsabers and adjusting to her own fighting style. Check out the three minute short below:
There’s not very much information available on why Ahsoka began using her shoto blade, but we can make the safe assumption based on the Forces of Destiny episode, that as Anakin continued to train Ahsoka in dueling, it was decided at one point that her acrobatic fighting style (and perhaps, small stature) might mean that wielding two blades would lend her more power and maneuverability in a duel. As we see in the later seasons of The Clone Wars, once Ahsoka mastered Jar’Kai, she is a formidable force. For example, her evasion of both Jedi and clone troopers in season 5 episode 18 The Jedi Who Knew Too Much is nearly unstoppable.
Ahsoka’s use of a shoto blade, Jar’Kai fighting style, and characteristic reverse grip are now so central to the character, it’s difficult to imagine her fighting without these elements. To illustrate just how central these elements are to the character, one of the very first live-action shots of Ahsoka’s face in The Mandalorian showed her using her lightsabers in her classic reverse grip stance.
Moreover, just as the animation team at Lucasfilm honed in on Ahsoka’s fighting style and stances over time, so too have the cast and crew working on the Mando-verse shows and the Ahsoka series placed a priority on sharpening Ahsoka’s combat scenes. I believe even the scenes we’ve seen so far in the trailers already show a marked improvement from Ahsoka’s first appearance in The Mandalorian season 2. That said, I’m withholding any final opinions until I see the full show.
Ahsoka airs on Disney Plus with a two-episode premiere on August 23rd. For more background on Ahsoka, check out the articles in our “Countdown to Ahsoka” series.
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.
