What Did Ahsoka Learn in The World Between Worlds? SWNN Roundtable Discussion

Ahsoka Tano's latest visit to the World Between Worlds was memorable for plenty of reasons, but Dave Filoni and the Force left the outcome vague enough that it might not be entirely clear to everyone what she took out of the experience. In a way, that is also the beauty of it: not everything has to be spelled out, and some things are best left to interpretation. And because everyone can take something different from it, we decided to make a little roundtable with some of our writers, where each of them broke down what they think the character learned after her adventure in Part Five of Ahsoka. Check them out below.



Josh Atkins: I think what we saw in the World Between Worlds is that Ahsoka is a bit world-weary. She's been fighting for a long time and is not sure if she has the strength to keep going. That's why she's felt a bit muted/standoffish so far in the series. It concerns her that Anakin taught her to be a warrior, not a Jedi, and we see her address those concerns during her memory of the Battle of Ryloth.



Equally, she is haunted by the knowledge that the man who taught her everything had fallen to the dark side and committed terrible atrocities. As his apprentice, what authority does she have to teach another person in the ways of the Jedi? Not only does she consider herself more of a warrior -- a 'shadow warrior', perhaps -- than a Jedi, but she has to deal with the fact that all the knowledge she has to pass on might be flawed. Can she teach Sabine anything other than how to fight? And if so, why would she know anything about being a good Jedi after she left the order and her master went on to become a fearsome Sith Lord?



Though it would have been good to get a little more dialogue during the fighting to address this more clearly, it seems that in telling Anakin 'I choose to live', she has decided to keep on fighting. This renewed vigor comes from the realization that there is more to Anakin and his teachings than the evil he became, that she can take what he learned and still do good in the galaxy, and that maybe the galaxy needs a warrior right now to keep fighting for good when no one else can.





Vidar Edland: The World Between World sequence served a crucial role in acquainting fresh audiences with the intricate dynamics of Anakin and Ahsoka's relationship, shedding light on their backstory. However, its underlying objective extended beyond this introductory function, as it masterfully intensified the drama and set Ahsoka on an intriguing trajectory that holds profound implications not only for her character development but also for the broader narrative tapestry of the Star Wars universe, especially in the post-Skywalker Saga era.







Miguel Fernández: It's been obvious since Ahsoka started that something is going on with our lead character. Many have pointed out her crossed-arms posture, which has become even a running joke among fans of the series, as has the show's overall dark aesthetic, but they've all been conscious decisions to show how tired she is of fighting. She barely survived the Clone Wars, where she had to make the traumatic decision of leaving the Jedi Order after realizing they had lost their way, then had to deal with her master becoming that he'd sworn to destroy, and what's more important, come to terms with her not being able to be there when it happened. That culminated in a duel against Vader, which she barely survived. She trained Sabine after coming back, but she couldn't embrace any attachment out of fear she'd get hurt -- which forced her to walk away. And now, she knows how to get to Thrawn, but is willing to sacrifice Ezra if that means no one will reach either one of them. It's a lot, and one has to wonder if she's really willing to live another day. The Force did, which is why she pulled her aside after losing her duel against Baylan to ask it directly to her.



We know Anakin Skywalker is the Chosen One, the actual representation of balance in the Force. That, on top of being Ahsoka's former master, is why he showed up to the Force-run realm known as the World Between Worlds -- it was the living Force asking our warrior if she is willing to fight another day, and more specifically, showing her why she should. Notice the two 'flashbacks' we see are before Anakin's turn, at points in which Ahsoka was still willing to step up for everyone around her and fight the good fight -- these days, she's only doing it reluctantly. She needed to remember what that was like with the wisdom she's now acquired over the years, and also confront her biggest regret: she didn't get to say goodbye to Anakin.



That trauma has been haunting her for many years, and it's the first thing she sees after waking up in the World Between Worlds: the incarnation of the character when Anakin and Vader were still in conflict with each other, possibly even before his duel with Obi-Wan. (Remember that this is also a case where Anakin is coming from the future into his past self, as he says 'I've heard that before' to Ahsoka's 'I won't fight you', referring to Luke's like in Return of the Jedi.) We see her trauma when she looks back at Anakin in the Clone Wars 'flashbacks' but starts to see Vader at certain points, reminding her that she should have seen it coming. As she starts to lose hope, Vader wins the inner fight and fully takes over Christensen's body. Ahsoka needed to overcome this experience and learn that she couldn't have saved him. Anakin was willing to lose himself to Vader, but that doesn't mean she can't save Ezra now. Rosario Dawson's delivery of the line 'I'm gonna find them, Hera' at the very end of the episode was the conclusion of that arc, a moment that almost brought me to tears. The Ahsoka Tano we know and love is back, for good.



And always remember: 'We are what they grow beyond.' -- Master Yoda







Alexander Giles: To achieve a higher state of Force enlightenment, Ahsoka had to grapple with the spectres of her past, particularly Anakin Skywalker's descent into darkness and her perception that her legacy was one of death and devastation. Like Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, Ahsoka was haunted by visions of her past mistakes. She blamed herself for Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader, believing that she had failed him by leaving the Jedi Order and the role as his Padawan.



In order to avoid succumbing to the dark side herself, Ahsoka chose to close herself off from her emotions. She walled herself off from not just the dark but the light as well, becoming a cold and distant figure. It was only when Ahsoka finally confronted her past that she was able to achieve Force enlightenment. She realised that she was not a failure, and that she was not bound by the expectations of others. She was free to chart her own path and needs to accept herself going forward to become a new presence within the Force.







Eric Lentz: Two of Anakin’s lines stood out to me upon rewatching these scenes: “Live or die” and “But you are more than that because I am more than that”. In the latter quote, Anakin is referring to Ahsoka’s declaration that her part of the Jedi legacy was nothing more than death and war. To be fair, she’s spent most of her adult life participating in one galaxy-wide conflict or another, whether it was the Clone Wars or the Rebel uprising against the Empire. However, Ahsoka has come to believe that violence is all she knows, and that she has nothing else to pass on to any Padawan of hers (Sabine in this case).



Anakin is aware of Ahsoka’s mistaken belief, and he calls her out on it early in their encounter, albeit subtly. (“You lost a fight.” “I don’t remember.” “Trust me, you lost.”) Anakin isn’t just referring to Ahsoka getting pushed off the cliff in the last episode. He’s talking about how Ahsoka let Baylan’s words get to her because she agrees with them. Baylan claimed that her legacy would be nothing but death and destruction, and Anakin is forcing Ahsoka to confront that viewpoint.



Eventually, it becomes clear to Anakin that Ahsoka is still haunted by his fall to the Dark Side. At this point, Anakin takes the kid gloves off and goes full Vader. His lightsaber turns red, his voice alters to become more Vader-esque, he continues to briefly assume the form of his Sith identity, and he again tells Ahsoka to “live or die”. Now backed into a corner and forced to choose, Ahsoka disarms Anakin and says that she chooses to live.



Ahsoka has finally come to terms both with her own violent past and her mentor’s fall from grace. Yes, much of her life has been filled with conflict and death, and her teacher did stray from the very path he intended for her to follow when he succumbed to the lure of the dark side. However, the Jedi Way is about more than just fighting, and Anakin did eventually return to the light. The Jedi aren’t immune to making mistakes, but that doesn’t mean their teachings are without merit. Ahsoka realizes that the Jedi can be the force for good she always imagined them to be, that she must stop letting her fears and regrets from her past control her, and that she can teach Sabine to be more than just a warrior.







Sydney Watsek: I believe that Ahsoka’s experience in the World Between Worlds allows her to reconcile with her past, her mistakes both real and perceived, and her reservations with the former Jedi Order. Since the moment Ahsoka is introduced in the The Clone Wars movie she is fighting a war, even when she leaves the Order in season 5 of The Clone Wars she is quickly shuffled back into the fight. Now, in the New Republic Era, despite this brief moment of peace she continues to fight, to find Thrawn, to finish it all at last. In doing so, she neglects to live, she prioritizes the fight over her family, she is so purpose-driven she has lost purpose entirely.



In literature, water often represents life, rebirth, or transformation. Ahsoka is figuratively reborn out of the choppy seas of Seatos and awakens to a new dawn, lighter and with renewed purpose. She has confronted the face of her guilt (Vader) and pushed beyond it, towards peace and resolve. I don’t think she’s fully moved past it all. That would be too neat even for Star Wars, but I do believe our hero treads a new, brighter path. One that hopefully leads to Ezra, and answers.







With the writers' strike going on, it will probably be a while before Dave Filoni can openly discuss this episode, and prove our takes to be completely wrong. But before that, we'll stick to them. What did you make of the sequence? What was your take on Ahsoka's lesson in the World Between Worlds? Let us know in the comments!



You can check out Rosie's full spoiler breakdown of the episode here, and tune in tonight for SWNN Live!, which will be discussing the new episode in detail. Ahsoka returns with Part Six next Tuesday night.



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