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Credit: LucasfilmStar Wars has spoken out about Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker after the beloved actor bid farewell to the franchise.
In August, Star Wars debuted its new show on Disney+ as part of the growing “Mando-Verse.” Ahsoka saw the return of Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Tano (made famous by Ashley Eckstein in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels) to the galaxy far, far away.
Like The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, TV shows also part of Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni’s “Mando-Verse,” Ahsoka is set in the era of the New Republic, approximately five years after the fall of the Galactic Empire in Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi (1983).
Ahsoka‘s story was initially set up in The Mandalorian Season 2 when Mandalorian Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) sought out Ahsoka Tano to help with the training of his ward, the Child, Grogu (“Baby Yoda”). Here, Ahsoka was battling the magistrate Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) in order to gain information about the location of Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen), the ruthless and sinister Admiral of the Empire as featured in Star Wars Rebels.
The recent addition to the Star Wars franchise picked up here, with Ahsoka reuniting with Rebels characters Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) and Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) in order to find the location of Thrawn and fellow Ghost crewmember, the Jedi Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi).
Over the course of eight episodes, Ahsoka revealed more about the mythos of the galaxy, bringing the World Between Worlds into live-action for the first time. It also debuted a completely new galaxy, home to the planet Peridea.
Peridea, the former home of the Dathomiri witches, was where Thrawn and Ezra spent their years after leaving the current Star Wars galaxy at the end of Rebels. It is likely that James Mangold’s future Star Wars movie, centering on the discovery of the Force, will do more to add to the growing mythos of this iconic element of the franchise.
And yet, while Ahsoka did a lot to bring fan-favorite animated characters into live-action, it also saw the return of a beloved actor known for his leading role in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. He may have returned last year in Obi-Wan Kenobi, but Hayden Christensen’s appearance in Ahsoka was a stand-out moment for all.
Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker
Christensen, known for his role in Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace (1999) and Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones (2002), first appeared at the end of episode four, “Part Four: Fallen Jedi,” before having a starring role as Clone Wars-era Anakin (or “Sky Guy”) in the fifth episode, “Part Five: Shadow Warrior.” His appearance alongside both Dawson and a younger version of the character, played by Ariana Greenblatt, saw Star Wars return to the Clone Wars, even going so far as to include Captain Rex (Temuera Morrison) in the sequence.
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Christensen would return to Ahsoka again in the finale, “Part Eight: The Jedi, the Witch, and the Warlord,” as a Force ghost, the first time since he replaced Sebastian Shaw in the 2004 DVD release of Return of the Jedi. Now, Star Wars is offering an explanation about the appearance of the Force ghost Anakin Skywalker for the first time.
“The convor Morai and the Force spirit of Anakin Skywalker both appear to give Ahsoka Tano signs that she’s exactly where she is supposed to be,” StarWars.com writes. “With this simple wisdom, reflected in images that show Baylan [Skoll (Ray Stevenson)] on his journey, Shin [Hati (Ivanna Sakhno)] igniting her lightsaber as she enters the bandit’s camp on Peridea, and Thrawn and the Great Mothers arriving at Dathomir, it seems like everyone is in agreement.”
This came after Ahsoka told Sabine, both trapped on Peridea, that “Ezra is where he needs to be. And so are we. It’s time to move on.” Star Wars confirming that the appearance of Anakin’s Force ghost is to symbolize Ahsoka’s rightful place in the galaxy comes as Christensen bids farewell to his beloved character.
Earlier this month, Star Wars released a video of Christensen discussing his time on Ahsoka, and it left many fans wondering if this was the end of his Star Wars journey.
In the video, Hayden Christensen discusses his character’s “remarkable” full-circle journey and how excited he was to be a part of the Ahsoka Disney+ show. He said he was “thrilled to get to come back and do more with the character.”
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“However, Christensen’s phrasing toward the end of the clip has some Star Wars fans fearing for the worst, speaking in the past tense when saying, “It’s meant a lot” and “It’s really been a special thing” when referring to his experience shooting the show,” Inside the Magic previously reported.
While there have been rumors of an Ahsoka Season 2, there is no confirmation from Lucasfilm nor The Walt Disney Company that one is slated to happen. At present, though, Star Wars fans do know that Dave Filoni will bring the “Mando-Verse” to the big screen in one of the recently announced movies at Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023.
Do you think Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker will return? Or do you think the actor’s time with the franchise is at its end? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!