As Dave Filoni’s “Mando-Verse” gears up to expand with the upcoming Disney+ Ahsoka series, one of its leading stars is teasing parallels to another live-action Star Wars show—as well as confirming its place on the official timeline once and for all.

We’re mere months away from the release of Ahsoka, a spinoff of the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels series that will see Rosario Dawson reprising her role as the titular ex-Jedi for her next big adventure into the galaxy far, far away.
While Dawson has made a handful of live-action appearances in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, the Ahsoka show will introduce a number of franchise newcomers who will bring fan-favorite Rebels characters to life. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is confirmed to be playing the cunning starpilot Hera Syndulla, while Natasha Liu Bordizzo will strap on her Mandalorian armor to play Sabine Wren.

The cast is rounded out by the late Ray Stevenson and Ivanna Sakhno, who play a mysterious master-apprentice duo. Perhaps most anticipated of all is the inclusion of two Rebels characters, Jedi padawan Ezra Bridger, who will be portrayed by Eman Esfandi, and the sinister Grand Admiral Thrawn, who was confirmed to be played by his Rebels voice actor, Lars Mikkelsen, at April’s Star Wars Celebration Europe.
Check out the official teaser trailer for Lucasfilm’s Ahsoka below:
While plot details remain scarce, we know that Ahsoka will pick up on loose story threads from Star Wars Rebels, with the trailer teasing a return to the World Between Worlds, Thawn’s “resurrection,” and a hunt for Ezra Bridger. But one small detail remained shrouded in mystery until now: when does Ahsoka Season 1 take place on the canon Star Wars timeline?
Although most fans came to the natural conclusion that Ahsoka would pick up after the events of Rebels and therefore, after the Original Trilogy, which is marked by the Battle of Yavin (BBY). Based on Ahsoka’s live-action debut in The Mandalorian, it also looks like Ahsoka is roughly the same age in previews of her upcoming solo show.

And now, thanks to Sabine actress Natasha Liu Bordizzo, it looks like we have an official answer. Speaking with Games Radar, Bordizzo revealed that Season 1 of Ahsoka runs alongside its fellow Disney+ Star Wars series, The Mandalorian Season 3, adding, “the shows are all connected:”
I think it’s hard not to feel part of something bigger. ‘Ahsoka’ runs along the same timeline as ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3, and the shows are all connected. There’s just so many parallels.
According to the newly-unveiled Star Wars timeline book, The Mandalorian Season 3 takes place roughly in 11 ABY. So presumably, if Bordizzo’s comments are correct, the events of Ahsoka will transpire during that same time.

While it’s no secret that Filoni’s “Mando-Verse” is interconnected, it’s interesting to hear that Ahsoka runs concurrently with with Season 3 of The Mandalorian, especially considering how anticlimactic it was compared to Season 2. Showrunners have confirmed that the third season was intended to be that way, as if to set the stage for future Star Wars projects, giving Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his tiny charge a clean slate in its finale now that Mandalore has been reclaimed by Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff).
So, if The Mandalorian Season 3 laid the foundation for Ahsoka, the question remains of which elements the new series expand on. Ahsoka will, without a doubt, take advantage of the set up introduced in Mando Season 3, from plot threads like the crumbling state of the New Republic, to that surprise Zeb (Steve Blum) cameo in “Chapter 21: The Pirate.”

Bordizzo’s recent comments helped clear up confusion among fans, as Lucasfilm has never officially said where the series falls canonically. However, rumors have run rampant about a potential time-jump halfway through the season, meaning the 11 ABY time frame might not mean that much at all.
Some Star Wars fans have also speculated that a good chunk of Ahsoka might take place before The Mandalorian, with some claiming we could get scenes set before the Original Trilogy, between Seasons 2 and 4 of Rebels, or even earlier. The Timelines book also might contradict Bordizzo’s remarks about Ahsoka taking place in 11 ABY, which allegedly puts the new show a few months after Season 1 of The Mandalorian.

Either way, Ahsoka will still help to fill the gaps between the Original and Sequel Trilogies—a time period that remains relatively uncharted territory in Star Wars canon. It’ll be interesting to see how Ahsoka connects to other “Mando-Verse” Disney+ series like the upcoming Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, and how each show will culminate in Dave Filoni’s 2026-2027 crossover movie. But before then, there’s certainly plenty of surprises in store.
Ahsoka will be available to stream on Disney+ beginning August 23, 2023.
Are you going to be tuning in for Ahsoka when it lands on Disney this fall? Let us know what you’re excited for in the comments below.