'Ahsoka' Likely to Disappoint Fans With Unexpected Character Replacement

Ahsoka (2023) could be about to divide the fanbase with some major character changes.

Since Ahsoka was announced back in December 2020, fans have been waiting with bated breath to see the fan-favorite Togruta Jedi from Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 — 2020) and Star Wars: Rebels (2014 — 2018) headline her own live-action television series.

While Rosario Dawson has already brought the character to life in The Mandalorian Season 2 episode “Chapter 13: The Jedi” and in The Book of Boba Fett‘s “Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger“, we’ve yet to see the beloved character take center stage within the “Mando-Verse.”

Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano in 'Ahsoka' — Credit: Lucasfilm

Besides seeing Ahsoka Tano’s compelling story continue in live action, what also has fans excited is seeing the characters from Rebels, such as Hera Syndulla, Sabine Wren, Ezra Bridger, and Chopper, also brought to life in the show, which has long been touted as a “sequel” to the hit animated series.

We were lucky enough to see Rebels‘ Lasat warrior Zeb Orrelios show up in The Mandalorian Season 3 episode “Chapter 21: The Pirate” (with Steve Blum returning to voice the character). Since then, all the Ahsoka trailers and TV spots have teased the rest of the Ghost crew, with the exception of Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus, who isn’t expected to return, as the character was killed off in Rebels Season 4, while actor Freddie Prinze Jr. has also confirmed that he’s done playing the character.

Ahsoka and Sabine Wren in the Ahsoka trailer — Credit: Lucasfilm

However, while fans were thrilled to get their first look at Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) when the first trailer dropped on May the 4th this year, there has been a surprising and even concerning amount of emphasis placed on the character since.

It turns out that Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) will be training Sabine, who is inherently a Mandalorian warrior, in the ways of the Force. This has been revealed in several clips from the upcoming show, while a brand-new featurette appears to reinforce this plot direction.

Sabine Wren fighting Shin with Ezra's lightsaber. — Credit: Lucasfilm

The new featurette (as per IGN’s YouTube channel) features a lot of emphasis on Jedi and their Padawan and even includes footage that spans the Star Wars saga to drive home this point, showing characters like Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) being trained by Yoda (Frank Oz) on Dagobah in Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back (1980).

In the video, the show’s creator, writer, and executive producer, Dave Filoni, says, “I’m telling this story about this mentor-student relationship that passes from Anakin [Skywalker] to Ahsoka to Sabine. It’s quite extraordinary to bring this to life.”

Check out the featurette below:

Bringing Sabine Wren into the spotlight as Ahsoka Tano’s Padawan has fans worried that the show will lose its focus on the titular Togruta, as well as the fact that Sabine is suddenly being changed into a Jedi character and is Force sensitive, despite being a Mandalorian.

But this could pose an even bigger problem for another Rebels character.

We know that Ezra Bridger will appear in the show in some capacity, as actor Eman Esfandi has been confirmed to play him. It has also been heavily suggested in the trailers and the marketing that Ahsoka and Sabine will continue with their search for the lost Jedi, who’s been missing since the Rebels Season 4 finale, “Family Reunion – and Farewell”, in which he disappears into the cosmos with Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) and a pod of Purrgil while protecting his home world Lothal from Thrawn’s Imperial forces.

Ezra Bridger preparing to jump with the Purrgil in Rebels — Credit: Lucasfilm

But so far, all we’ve seen are holographic recordings of Ezra Bridger in the trailers. While Ahsoka might be keeping its cards close to the chest and saving Ezra’s eventual return to his fellow Ghost crew members as a big surprise, the show’s apparent commitment to Sabine Wren’s training may not leave enough time to focus on Ezra.

And then there’s the issue of some of the episodes’ rumored runtimes, which would leave even less room to evenly balance both the screentime and storytelling between these characters. As such, Sabine Wren might essentially “replace” Ezra Bridger, whose absence from the story from the get-go already leaves him at a disadvantage in terms of making a real impression — assuming he even shows up and isn’t saved for the finale’s inevitable post-credits scene.

Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine Wren in Ahsoka — Credit: Lucasfilm

If this turns out to be the case, whether Sabine “replaces” Ezra or Ahsoka, or both, it speaks to an even bigger problem with the live-action Star Wars shows, with lead characters being side-lined to make way for others, which has so far proven divisive among fans.

In The Book of Boba Fett (2021), the titular bounty hunter’s screentime is hijacked by Din Djarin/the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) in the episodes “Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian”, “”Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger”, and “Chapter 7: In the Name of Honor.” At times, Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022) feels like it’s Reva’s story rather than Obi-Wan’s. And more recently, in The Mandalorian Season 3, Din Djarin essentially hands over duties to Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff).

Now, it looks like Ahsoka is about to do the same, with Sabine taking center stage, which may even leave little room for other “surprise” characters like Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen).

As per Disney and Lucasfilm, here’s the official trailer for Ahsoka:

Ahsoka 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).

The first two episodes of Ahsoka will premiere on Disney+ on August 23.

Are you concerned Ezra Bridger won’t feature in Ahsoka all that much? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!