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Credit: LucasfilmStar Wars has finally replaced the Sequel Trilogy.
Not so long ago, Star Wars was a film-first franchise. The original trilogy films, Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope (1977), Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi (1983), are still widely considered the best.
But, there’s a vast amount of content bridging the gap between now and then. We’ve had the prequels, Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace (1999), Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones (2002), and Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith (2005).
And, in more recent years, the three sequel trilogy installments, Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi (2017), and Star Wars: Episode IX– The Rise of Skywalker (2019).
But the nine Skywalker Saga installments aren’t the only films in the Star Wars franchise. We’ve also had the animated film, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008), and the two anthology films, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018).
That’s only the cinematic side of the faraway galaxy. Since The Mandalorian (2019) arrived on Disney+ in 2019, the “Mando-Verse”, along with several other live-action shows set outside the New Republic era, has become the new flagship era for Star Wars.
Since Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu became as iconic as Han Solo and Chewbacca, we’ve had The Book of Boba Fett (2021), Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022), Andor (2022), Ahsoka (2023), The Acolyte (2024), Skeleton Crew (2024), and two more seasons of Mando.
As a live-action sequel to the animated show Star Wars: Rebels (2014 — 2018) — and in a way, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 — 2020) — Ahsoka, in particular, had a lot to live up to, as fans have expected it to revisit a number of ground-breaking plot devices from Rebels.
In that regard, Ahsoka delivered in spades — perhaps not in quality storytelling, but in changing the Star Wars franchise as we know it, whether that’s with the galaxy-crossing space whales known as the purrgil or the mystical realm, the World Between Worlds.
Related: ‘Ahsoka’ Hides Massive Sequel Trilogy Connection in Plain Sight
For better or worse, in many ways, Ahsoka also seems to have taken the sequel trilogy‘s place in the Star Wars franchise.
Not only are there many parallels between the two in terms of scenes, but some creative decisions in Ahsoka ultimately negate the purpose of Disney and Lucasfilm’s three sequels.
More importantly, it’s worth pointing out that Ahsoka was never the key to “erasing” the sequels like fans hoped it would. In fact, by reintroducing the World Between Worlds, a place where time and space don’t exist, it didn’t make any changes to past Star Wars events.
Instead, it absolutely embraces the Disney era of Star Wars, drawing plenty of inspiration from the widely-hated sequel trilogy.
From the get-go, Ahsoka has behaved very much like a film in its own right, from its opening text crawl to its era-defining storylines. It has also made a number of “corrections” to the sequel trilogy. But it looks like it may have actually replaced those films. Here’s how.
How Ahsoka Has Replaced the Sequel Trilogy
Sabine’s Training
Ahsoka has continued an annoying trend with the Disney+ shows by focusing on another character besides the titular one. In this case, there’s a surprising amount of emphasis on Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), who’s now Ahsoka’s padawan/apprentice.
It’s a very similar storyline to Rey’s relationship with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in The Last Jedi. While that relationship is short-lived, watching a well-established Jedi like Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) train someone in the ways of the Force feels all too familiar.
The Dark Jedi
Fans are still undecided on the nature of Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) and his apprentice Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno). However, it’s fair to say that they’re neither full Jedi nor full Sith, instead operating somewhere between the two, in a “gray” area, if you will.
Either way, they will ultimately pave the way for a very similar Force user in Kylo Ren/Ben Solo (Adam Driver), the main villain of the sequel trilogy, who also doesn’t fit into either category. Could this be the new way forward for Star Wars with its Force-wielding villains?
Related: Despite Epic Return, ‘Star Wars’ Officially Replaces Darth Vader
The “Holdo Maneuver “
By “Part Four: Fallen Jedi”, Ahsoka had already featured a number of references to the sequel trilogy. But just before the fourth episode ends, the show makes one of the biggest parallels to those films by repeating the “Holdo maneuver” from The Last Jedi.
In the 2017 film, Vice-Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern) uses the hyperdrive aboard the Resistance ship to slice a First Order ship in half. In Ahsoka, Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) performs the same maneuver with the hyperspace ring, killing many New Republic rangers as it jumps into hyperspace.
“Ahsoka Poppins”
The scene in the third episode of Ahsoka “Part Three: Time to Fly” in which Ahsoka fends off enemy ships during a space-walk has been dubbed “Ahsoka Poppins”, as it mirrors The Last Jedi‘s “Leia Poppins” scene (a reference, of course, to the flying nanny Mary Poppins).
There was no way Ahsoka would get away with pitting its titular character against the vacuum of space while she’s flying around deflecting enemy fire with her two lightsabers. And fans wasted no time taking to X (Twitter) to compare the two scenes.
While the sequence in Ahsoka is nowhere near as confusing as Leia’s sudden-power-of-flight scene (coupled with her resurrection), it still feels very deliberate.
Related: ‘Star Wars’ Finally Says Goodbye to the Faraway Galaxy as We Know It
Ahsoka Speaking With Dead Jedi
It turns out Rey (Daisy Ridley) wasn’t the first Jedi to speak with dead Jedi, as seen in The Rise of Skywalker. In Ahsoka‘s “Part Five: Shadow Warrior”, Ahsoka hears more than a few echoes of wisdom when she’s reunited with Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen).
Still, this is a very interesting parallel, and it makes us wonder whether Rey is hearing the Jedi speak to her from within the World Between Worlds, where Ahsoka ends up completing her training with her old Jedi master.
Ahsoka Gets a Power-up Just Like Rey
After completing her training with Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka becomes “Ahsoka the White”. Many fans have compared this transformation with Gandalf the White from The Lord of the Rings, something even Dave Filoni alluded to long before the show arrived on Disney+.
But what is Disney and Lucasfilm’s obsession with giving characters a power-up without them having to truly earn it? They did the same thing with Rey throughout the sequel trilogy — she goes from zero to superhero without any real obstacle standing in her way.
Either way, Ahsoka Tano has already replaced Rey Skywalker as the most powerful Jedi in Star Wars canon.
Related: ‘Star Wars’ Could Introduce a Second Order 66 to Fix a Major Sequel Trilogy Mistake
Non-Lethal Lightsabers
One of the main bones of contention fans have with Ahsoka, and with Star Wars in general, is the fact that the lightsaber has become entirely ineffective against its opponent, which all started with Maul (Sam Witwer) in The Clone Wars.
It also carried through to Sabine Wren, who survives a blade through the gut in Ahsoka‘s first episode, “Part One: Master and Apprentice”. It’s very similar to how Kylo Ren is defeated in The Rise of Skywalker, but at least he was Force-healed by someone.
Zombie Sith
Fans tore their hair out trying to work out the identity of the Sith Inquisitor Marrok in Ahsoka. Many believed it was Ezra Bridger, while some thought it was Sam Witwer reprising his role as Galen Marek/Starkiller from the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed games.
But after being defeated by Ahsoka in “Fallen Jedi”, Marrok is revealed to be a faceless reanimated Force user, as we see a plume of green smoke billow from his body. Zombie Sith are nothing new, though — there are plenty on Exegol in The Rise of Skywalker, including Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid).
Related: Han Solo May Have Survived, ‘Star Wars’ Suggests
Searching for a Lost Jedi
Ahsoka has so far has revolved around the search for the lost Jedi Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi), who disappeared in the Rebels Season 4 finale, “Family Reunion — and Farewell” after jumping into hyperspace with the purrgil.
Naturally, this involves a special map, a lot like the one we see in The Force Awakens, as Rey sets about tracking down Luke Skywalker, who’s living with the Lanai, just as Ezra is found with the Noti in the sixth episode of Ahsoka, “Part Six: Far, Far Away”.
Ezra Refusing the Lightsaber
There’s another parallel between Ezra Bridger and Luke Skywalker. In Ahsoka‘s “Part Seven: Dreams and Madness”, Sabine offers Ezra his lightsaber so that he can join her in battle against a group of bandits and Thrawn’s night troopers, but he politely refuses it.
Instead, Ezra chooses to rely solely on the Force, which he proceeds to use swiftly against his opponents. While his motivations aren’t the same, the scene is reminiscent of the one in The Last Jedi in which Luke controversially tosses his lightsaber away after Rey hands it to him.
Related: ‘Ahsoka’ Retcons ‘Star Wars’ History in the Most Unexpected Way
A Skywalker’s Padawan and Successor
The fact that Ahsoka Tano was the padawan of a Skywalker — Anakin, no less — seems to send a shiver down Grand Admiral Thrawn’s spine. And. as we already know, Ahsoka is one of the most powerful Jedi alive at the time the series takes place.
We even seen her get an “upgrade” to Ahsoka the White after her second experience in the World Between Worlds. And, as far as we know, she’s also the only other Jedi, along with Ezra Bridger, to have visited the mystical dimension.
But she isn’t the only Skywalker padawan. Decades after Ahsoka takes place, Luke Skywalker trains Rey, who also becomes an all-powerful Jedi. But has Ahsoka now replaced Rey? It wouldn’t surprise us, as she’s already replaced Luke as the figurehead of the franchise.
Ignoring Legacy Characters
It might sound silly to say that Ahsoka is ignoring legacy Star Wars characters, considering C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) makes a surprise appearance in “Dreams and Madness”, but the show is taking a leaf out of the sequel trilogy book where such characters are concerned.
One of the most unforgivable sins the sequels commit is not reuniting characters like Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Luke Skywalker, and Leia (Carrie Fisher) in the same scene. And so far, the Mando-Verse has had just as many “scattered” cameos from original characters, such as Luke, R2-D2, and now C-3PO.
Ahsoka is now streaming on Disney+.
It stars Rosario Dawson (Ahsoka Tano), Natasha Liu Bordizzo (Sabine Wren), Eman Esfandi (Ezra Bridger), Lars Mikkelsen (Grand Admiral Thrawn), Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Hera Syndulla), Genevieve O’Reilly (Mon Mothma), Ivanna Sakhno (Shin Hati), Diana Lee Inosanto (Morgan Elsbeth), and the late Ray Stevenson (Baylan Skoll).
Do you feel that Ahsoka has replaced the sequel trilogy? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!