Credit: LucasfilmWarning! Spoilers ahead for Ahsoka “Part Six: Far, Far Away.”
After building up to his grand reveal all season long, our fan-favorite Rebel from Lothal has finally made his live-action debut in the sixth episode of Ahsoka, and audiences couldn’t be happier.
Related: The Biggest Reveal in ‘Star Wars: Ahsoka’ Has Fans Freaking Out
‘Ahsoka’ Recap: Cast, Plot Details, and Latest Episode
Ahsoka “Part Six: Far, Far Away” had some high expectations to live up to, coming on the heels of the critically acclaimed “Part Five: Shadow Warrior,” which brought back legacy Star Wars actor Hayden Christensen for an emotional reunion between Anakin Skywalker and his old Padawan, Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) in the mystical World Between Worlds.
Still, it’s safe to say that Ahsoka Episode 6 stands on its own and provides some much-needed story progression that will undoubtedly lay the foundation for the remainder of the season and, more than likely, Dave Filoni’s upcoming “Mando-Verse” crossover movie.
Related: Anakin and Ahsoka Reunite For a Second Time After Epic ‘Star Wars’ Moment
Starring Dawson as the titular Jedi, the series, which acts as a spiritual successor to the animated Star Wars Rebels, has also brought many beloved characters into live-action, including General Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Mandalorian Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo).
Who Is Ezra Bridger? ‘Rebels’ Origins and ‘Ahsoka’ Connections
As fans of Rebels know, Hera, Sabine, and occasionally Ahsoka served alongside the starship Ghost, where they fought back against the Galactic Empire. Of course, there’s also Jedi Kanan Jarrus (Freddie Prinze Jr.) and Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios (Steve Blum), a cunning Lasat honor guard, and perhaps, most importantly, Ezra Bridger (Taylor Gray), a stray picked up on the surface of Lothal after Kanan and Co. discover that he’s Force-sensitive.
Over time, Ezra learns how to harness his powers under Kanan’s guidance and plays a monumental role in the downfall of the Empire. During the events of the Rebels finale, Ezra sacrifices himself to defeat Imperial warlord Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) by pulling him into the tentacles of hyperspace-traveling Purrgil, and the two are never to be seen again—until now.
Ezra Bridger Makes His Live-Action Debut in ‘Ahsoka’
While we’ve always had an inkling that Ezra was alive somewhere in the Unknown Regions, perhaps with Thrawn, Ahsoka confirms that he’s very much alive and well. As shown in the Rebels finale, Ezra always trusted that one day, Sabine would find him, wherever he may be. Years later, Sabine still feels guilty about not trying hard enough to track him down and is understandably mourning the loss of her dear friend, not quite stuck in the past, but struggling to move on without him nonetheless.
Ahsoka “Part Four: Fallen Jedi” proves that Sabine will do anything to rescue Ezra, leading her to, essentially, betray Ahsoka and follow Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson), Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno), and Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) into the Unknown Regions with the promise of finding his whereabouts. And after a long journey into this mysterious second galaxy, Sabine, against all odds, does.
Sabine finds her former crewmate stranded on the mysterious planet of Peridea in Episode 6, where he’s been living alongside the adorable nomadic turtle people known as the Noti for at least nine years. This marks the character’s first live-action appearance in Star Wars history, with Eman Esfandi taking over the role from Ezra’s Rebels voice actor, Taylor Gray.
Here, we see a much older Ezra than we last saw him (aside from the brief hologram seen earlier in the Ahsoka series), sporting long hair, a beard, and robes that look native to Peridea. While it’s not explained at length during the episode, Thrawn and Ezra have separated at some point since the conclusion of Rebels, with the blue-skinned Chiss admiral having seemingly repaired his Star Destroyer, the Chimaera, which he currently lives on as he and his forces seek to return to their original galaxy.
Ezra and Sabine share a touching reunion, with the missing Jedi telling Sabine, “I knew I could count on you,” a nod to his final message to his Ghost crewmate in Rebels. While they agree to save the catching up for later, it seems inevitable that we’ll learn what Ezra’s been up to throughout his exile sooner than later.
But until then, fans are simply ecstatic to see Ezra Bridger back in action, and are taking to social media to celebrate his first major appearance in the Ahsoka show.
Fans React to Ezra’s ‘Ahsoka’ Cameo: “My Boy Is Back!”
On Twitter, this user wrote, “MY BOY IS BACK, I REPEAT EZRA BRIDGER IS BACK,” accompanied by a snapshot of a fan-made version of an older Ezra in the World Between Worlds, which they compared to his very accurate live-action look in Ahsoka:
IT’S HIM
MY BOY IS BACK, I REPEAT EZRA BRIDGER IS BACK #ahsoka #Ezra#EzraBridger
https://twitter.com/RaFe_Tano/status/1704313514263707981?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1704313514263707981%7Ctwgr%5E1a5507306a1f95233f9c2a5342c9445ca06908f1%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Finsidethemagic.net%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D632152action%3Deditclassic-editor
Meanwhile, this fan shared a similar sentiment, sharing photos of Sabine and Ezra’s long-awaited hug while expressing their happiness about seeing the two reunited after so many years:
FINALLY!!!! EZRA BRIDGER IS BACK!!! #Sabine #Ahsoka #Thrawn
https://twitter.com/BlizzardOfBlue/status/1704310587776495716?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1704310587776495716%7Ctwgr%5E99e24fc6a4f22b2b9b5bf9f9cecce9d51f0c46ae%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Finsidethemagic.net%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D632152action%3Deditclassic-editor
And this fan summarized how many Rebels fans are feeling after the sixth Ahsoka episode with a hilariously spot-on meme:
Star wars fans when Sabine found Ezra #Ahsoka #Thrawn
https://twitter.com/bobreddit889/status/1704310042185593309?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1704310042185593309%7Ctwgr%5E1160fb60732cbfaaae1ed42cafdaf388f316c35b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Finsidethemagic.net%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D632152action%3Deditclassic-editor
It’s heartwarming to see Eman Esfandi’s Ezra being welcomed into the fandom with open arms, and hopefully, we’ll get to see even more of him in future Star Wars projects, perhaps as the Jedi Master of Grogu or even Jacen Syndulla (Evan Whitten).
For now, it’s impossible to tell just how Ahsoka, Huyang (David Tennant), Sabine, Hera, and now Ezra plan on stopping Thrawn, but the stakes have certainly never been higher. With the fragile New Republic at the center of an intergalactic conspiracy, our heroes must band together to save the day—and soon.
Were you excited to see Ezra Bridger pop up in the latest episode of Ahsoka? What do you think of his live-action portrayal? Share your thoughts in the comments below.