Star Wars’ most prolific characters, and her adventurous journey has arguably only just begun. Despite being introduced in 2008’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie as Anakin Skywalker’s surprise Padawan, Ahsoka has had an undeniably positive influence on the franchise as a whole. She became an integral part of Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lives, defied the Jedi Order when they betrayed her, single-handedly defeated Maul in one of Star Wars’ most impressive lightsaber duels, and became a force for good in the Rebellion, too.

Who knows where Star Wars would be without Ahsoka Tano today? Almost every modern Star Wars story involves her in some way – Lucasfilm and Disney+ seem to be quite fond of her, especially. Since the launch of Disney’s streaming platform, Ahsoka has featured in The Clone Wars season 7, The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, and she’s become the star of her very own self-titled live-action series, a series inextricably intertwined with Star Wars Rebels and The Mandalorian. Ahsoka Tano may now, in fact, be one of the franchise’s most influential characters of all time.

1 How Ahsoka Tano ed The Jedi

Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi Episode 1

Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi is an anthology series that dives deeper into the lives of two prominent (ex)-Jedi: Ahsoka Tano and Count Dooku. The show’s first episode, titled “Life and Death,” reveals the circumstances of Ahsoka’s birth, the customs of her people, the Togruta, and how her family discovered Ahsoka’s sensitivity for the Force. It’s a simple episode, but an important one nevertheless: the Togruta are woefully underdeveloped within the franchise’s canon lore, and this episode provided some valuable insight into their culture.

It helps, of course, that baby Ahsoka is cute as a button in this mini-episode, displaying her resilience and strength from a young age. As her mother takes her out on a customary hunt, Ahsoka comes face to face with a terrifying creature, a creature she immediately puts at ease using the power of the Force. At the end of the episode, we see a glimpse of Ahsoka’s first meeting with Jedi Master Plo-Koon, whom she had a special bond with throughout Star Wars: The Clone Wars as well.

2 Ahsoka Tano's Clone Wars Adventures

Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Tales of the Jedi Episode 5

Ahsoka was first introduced in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie, but her journey didn’t truly start until the Star Wars: The Clone Wars show began that same year. As Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan during the Clone Wars, Ahsoka’s learning curve was a little different from what her peers were experiencing. Anakin ed on his adventurous spirit, his recklessness, and his ingenuity to his Padawan, all traits that can still be seen in Ahsoka’s character even years later. The Clone Wars were a grim time for the Jedi, however, and neither Anakin nor Ahsoka came out of it unscathed.

Ahsoka and Anakin became incredibly close as friends – closer than the Jedi Code would normally allow or encourage – and things quickly went downhill when Ahsoka was falsely accused of bombing the Jedi Temple in The Clone Wars season 5. As it turned out, her former friend and fellow Padawan, Barriss Offee, had orchestrated the attack as a way to voice her displeasure with the actions of the Jedi during the galaxy-spanning conflict. Ahsoka was reinstated to the Jedi Order, but the damage had already been done, and she left Anakin and everything she’d ever known behind to start anew.

Her separation from the Jedi wouldn’t last for long, though – in The Clone Wars season 7, she got in touch with Anakin and Obi-Wan concerning the siege on Mandalore, where, after she defeated and captured Darth Maul, she narrowly escaped the clones’ wrath and the effects of Order 66 (using a technique Anakin had taught her during the early days of their partnership as seen in Tales of the Jedi episode 5, "Practice Makes Perfect"). Ahsoka’s journey during the Clone Wars was an emotional but necessary one. It allowed her to become who she was always meant to be.

3 Ahsoka Tano s The Rebellion

Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi Episode 6

What happened to Ahsoka between the end of the Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels remained a mystery until Star Wars published author E.K. Johnston’s novel, Ahsoka. This novel examines Ahsoka’s life as she went into hiding during the early days of the Empire’s reign. She landed in a far-flung farming community where, until she was forced to use her powers to save one of the villagers, she had been able to lie low, despite the Empire’s desire to hoard the planet’s resources.

Though Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi episode 6, “Resolve,” partially retconned Johnston’s novel, the gist of the story remained the same. After secretly attending Pé Amidala’s funeral, Ahsoka meets Bail Organa, who offers her a way to communicate should she ever wish to his covert resistance efforts. At first, Ahsoka refused, but after fighting (and killing) an Inquisitor on that distant moon to save a similar farming community, Ahsoka ed the Rebellion once and for all.

4 Ahsoka Tano's Return As Fulcrum

Star Wars Rebels

Ahsoka Tano returns! Ahsoka’s first appearance in Star Wars Rebels occurred at the end of season 1, years before she’d return in The Clone Wars’ final season. Audiences had no idea where she’d been or what she’d been up to (Johnston’s novel wasn’t published until 2016, and Ahsoka’s Rebels debut occurred in 2015), but her reappearance was a most welcome surprise nonetheless. Operating under the code name Fulcrum, Ahsoka had been working undercover across the galaxy to obtain vital intel for the fledgling Rebellion.

As she became an honorary member of Rebels’ Ghost Crew, Ahsoka grew closer to fellow Jedi Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger. Together, they tried to unlock the mysteries of the Sith and Darth Vader, culminating in an epic battle on the planet Malachor in the Star Wars Rebels season 2 finale. Ahsoka came face to face with Vader for the first time, and as she finally realized the truth of Vader’s identity, she fought him in a match (seemingly) to the death. Ahsoka disappears at the end of the episode, but her story was far from over.

In the final stretch of Star Wars Rebels season 4, Ezra accesses a dimension known as the World Between Worlds, a plane of existence that connects all space and time through the Force. There, Ezra “saves” Ahsoka’s life after her battle with Vader, and she re-enters the timeline just after their duel ends, coming back in the Rebels epilogue to help Sabine Wren search for the now-missing Ezra Bridger.

5 Ahsoka Tano's Missing Years

Some parts of Ahsoka's story still haven't been told

What happened to Ahsoka between surviving Malachor and returning to Lothal to meet with Sabine Wren is still somewhat of a mystery. However, the Rebels epilogue has been partially retconned by Ahsoka. As such, we know that at some point before Ahsoka and Sabine pick up their second search for Ezra, the former Jedi took Sabine on as her Padawan. Though this was an undeniably surprising turn of events, as Sabine had shown no true indication that she was Force-sensitive in Rebels, their dynamic was the heart of the show, opening up thousands of new possibilities for the franchise to explore.

Somewhere between the Rebels finale and Ahsoka, Ahsoka also located and reunited with the Jedi Order’s droid, Huyang, a character originally introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Huyang is an incredibly valuable resource – he’s been with the Jedi Order for thousands of years and has encyclopedic knowledge of the Jedi’s history and their lightsaber-building techniques. Huyang will no doubt play a larger role in the so-called “Mandoverse,” which Ahsoka is now an integral part of – despite essentially functioning as a live-action version of Star Wars Rebels season 5.

6 Ahsoka's Live-Action Return:

The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, & Ahsoka

Ahsoka Tano’s live-action debut turned her into a household name. In The Mandalorian season 2, episode 5, “The Jedi,” Din Djarin and The Child, forevermore known as Grogu, find Ahsoka Tano on the planet Corvus. She was there to uncover information about Grand iral Thrawn’s – and by extension, Ezra Bridger’s – whereabouts from Lady Morgan Elsbeth, one of Thrawn’s loyal servants. The episode is not only important for Grogu’s character but for Ahsoka, as well – it gives the audience an insight into her state of mind after her experience with Vader and the World Between Worlds.

Next, Ahsoka briefly (and surprisingly) turned up in The Mandalorian’s first official spinoff, The Book of Boba Fett. Though seeing Anakin Skywalker’s former Padawan with his son, Luke Skywalker, was an undeniably emotional treat for long-time Star Wars fans, it’s a shame that we never got to see their first meeting. By this point, Ahsoka and Luke had clearly met before, and she came to visit Luke’s Jedi Temple and check in on Grogu’s progress. After a small but impactful heart-to-heart with Din Djarin, Ahsoka takes off again. Not for long, though.

Ahsoka had a lot to live up to. It needed to develop Ahsoka’s character from The Clone Wars and Rebels, it needed to function as a direct Star Wars Rebels sequel, and it needed to further the Mandoverse’s storytelling as well, all while giving audiences something fresh and exciting. Though it had its flaws, the series largely did what it was meant to – it certainly changed Ahsoka Tano’s character for the better, as she let go of her guilt about Anakin Skywalker and became who she was meant to be since the Star Wars Rebels epilogue: “Ahsoka the White.”

Though Ahsoka is currently stuck in another galaxy with Sabine Wren, audiences can rest assured that Ahsoka Tano will return. Ahsoka season 2 has been given the green light by Lucasfilm, and we have no doubt she’ll turn up in another property related to The Mandalorian sub-franchise sooner or later as well. Until Ahsoka Tano returns to our screens, though, why not take the time to experience her Star Wars story all over again?

All of Ahsoka Tano's Star Wars stories can be watched exclusively on Disney+.