By George Bate & Josh Bate
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Ahsoka – Part Eight
Ahsoka’s fantastic first season has come to an end and, while fans recover from the events of the finale, now is a perfect time to check out all of the easter eggs, references, and trivia facts we noticed in Part Eight.
Fittingly, the season finale of Ahsoka debuted on the 15th anniversary of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Part 8 is directed by Rick Famuyiwa, who has directed several episodes of The Mandalorian and was an executive producer on The Mandalorian Season 3.
Thrawn mentions, “Even I fell victim to the heroics of a single Jedi.” He is referencing the events of the Star Wars Rebels series finale in which Ezra Bridger bested the Imperial Admiral during the Battle of Lothal.
Morgan Elsbeth is honored by the Great Mothers with the Blade of Talzin. This sword previously appeared in The Clone Wars episode “The Disappeared – Part II” in which the Night Sister matriarch Mother Talzin used the sword in a duel with Mace Windu.
The title of the episode “The Jedi, the Witch, and the Warlord” parallels C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
While constructing a lightsaber, Ezra mentions to Huyang that a blade emitter would make the lightsaber blade too narrow. This is a reference to Star Wars Rebels in which the lightsaber blades were noticeably more narrow than in previous films and shows.
Sabine mentions Kanan Jarrus, to which Ezra replies, “He was my Master. Taught me everything I know.” This master and apprentice relationship is a centerpiece of Star Wars Rebels. Huyang refers to Kanan as Caleb, which is the character’s original name – Caleb Dume.
Ezra’s new lightsaber resembles his master Kanan Jarrus’ lightsaber, both in color and emitter.
Huyang mentions that Ahsoka suspended Sabine’s training following the fall of Mandalore. Huyang states that, “At the end of the war, the Empire purged the entire surface of the planet, killing hundreds of thousands.” This line places the Night of a Thousand Tears more firmly in the Star Wars timeline. More specifically, Huyang indicates that Mandalore was destroyed by the Empire after the Battle of Endor and the fall of Palpatine and Death Star II. This means the Purge of Mandalore was likely part of Operation Cinder, a sprawling military campaign devised by Palpatine to destroy various planets in the galaxy if he ever fell from power. More broadly, this was part of Palpatine’s Contingency plan, which was to destroy the remains of the Empire and create a new Empire in the Unknown Regions while hiding on Exegol.
Ahsoka asks Sabine if she has kept up with her Jedi training. Initially, Sabine replies, “I try,” but then corrects herself to say, “I do.” This is a reference to a classic line of dialogue from Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back in which the Jedi Master says, “Do or do not. There is no try.”
The Great Mothers use their dark Magick to resurrect Night Troopers and Death Troopers into what is essentially the Star Wars equivalent of zombies. The idea of troopers being zombie-fied was the plot of Joe Schreiber’s Legends novel Death Troopers. Interestingly, Death Troopers in canon were introduced in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as elite soldiers of the Empire, but, in Ahsoka Part 8, the canon Death Troopers resemble the Legends Death Troopers more than ever.
The Great Mothers resurrect Thrawn’s troopers by chanting, “Blenay vedi nalem koreem.” This is the Chant of Resurrection, a Nightsister spell previously seen in The Clone Wars and Jedi: Fallen Order. In The Clone Wars episode “Massacre,” Old Daka used the Chant of Resurrection to help the Nightsisters in their battle against General Grievous and the Separatists.
Sabine kills a Death Trooper in a manner similar to how Kylo Ren killed a Praetorian Guard in The Last Jedi.
Sabine uses the Force to throw Ezra aboard Thrawn’s Star Destroyer. In several episodes of Rebels, Kanan uses a similar move to help Ezra make big jumps and cross large gaps.
Ezra picks up a dead Night Trooper’s communicator and speaks into it using fake code to mislead Imperials. Ezra did this several times in Star Wars Rebels, which mirrored what Han Solo did to deceive the Imperials while aboard the Death Star.
Morai, the convor with close ties to Ahsoka Tano, appears in Part 8. Ahsoka and Morai’s relationship dates back to the Star Wars Rebels episode “The Mystery of Chopper Base,” but Morai also appeared in the final scene of The Clone Wars Season 7, again symbolic of Ahsoka. Morai reappeared in The Mandalorian – Season 2, Chapter 13 “The Jedi,” again watching over Tano. But beyond Ahsoka, Morai has clear spiritual ties to the Daughter of Mortis and appears in various depictions of the Mortis gods.
With some jaw-dropping imagery at the end of the episode, it is revealed that the power calling to Baylan Skoll is related to the Mortis Gods. Baylan stands atop a massive statue of the Mortis God known as The Father, who is next to the statue of The Son. Interestingly, the statue of the Daughter is destroyed. In Star Wars Rebels, Ahsoka is saved from the World Between Worlds when the Daughter uses the last of her power to resurrect Ahsoka. The Daughter and Ahsoka have strong ties as a result, and the ominous absence of a statue of the Daughter in Part 8 may be a hint that Ahsoka will eventually be revealed as the new Daughter of Mortis.
Thrillingly, the Son of Mortis on the statue resembles the face of Star Wars favorite Sam Witwer! Witwer voiced the Son in The Clone Wars and has played various roles throughout Star Wars. Fingers crossed Witwer appears in live-action soon!
On a more saddening note, this episode also marks the last we’ll see of Ray Stevenson as Baylan Skoll. The actor unexpectedly passed away in May of this year and was easily one of the highlights of Ahsoka.
Ezra used a Night Trooper disguise to safely make it back home. Ezra frequently used Stormtrooper disguises in Star Wars Rebels, which itself was a reference to Han and Luke disguising themselves as Stormtroopers aboard the Death Star in A New Hope.
Ahsoka mentions that her master always stood by her, even when no one else did. This is a reference to Ahsoka’s arc in the final episodes of The Clone Wars Season 5, in which the Jedi was accused of a crime she did not commit. While the rest of the Jedi Order quickly turned against Ahsoka, Anakin stood by her side and believed that his apprentice could do not such thing.
Hayden Christensen appears again, this time as Force Ghost to Ahsoka. This marks the first time Anakin has appeared on-screen as a Force Ghost since the end of Return of the Jedi. In a fitting parallel, Return of the Jedi concludes with Anakin looking over his son Luke Skywalker. Ahsoka, meanwhile, concludes with Anakin looking over his former apprentice Ahsoka Tano.
With Anakin appearing on Peredia and the ties to the Mortis gods growing ever stronger, it is possible that Anakin’s inclusion here indicates he will play a role in the balance of the Force as it relates to Mortis. In The Clone Wars, Anakin showed that he was integral to the balance of the Force as he was able to tame The Son (representing the dark side) and The Daughter (representing the Light Side).
The over-the-shoulder framing of Anakin’s first appearance in Part 8 mirrors various shots throughout The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels of Anakin and Ahsoka looking at one another.
