George Lucas Wanted Ahsoka To Die Before ‘The Mandalorian’

The character of Ahsoka Tano has been on a long journey since she was first introduced to viewers via the 2008 animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars. An obvious retcon character who was now Anakin Skywalker's apprentice, she became a main character on the 3D animated TV series of the same name that followed. While many were skeptical about the character at first, she became a fan favorite, even going on to appear in the next animated series, Star Wars Rebels, and, more recently, in live-action form through The Mandalorian. George Lucas was even on the set when the episode with Ahsoka, "Chapter 13: The Jedi," was being filmed. However, the character surviving that long in the Star Wars timeline was not always guaranteed.

Given that she was absent from Revenge of the Sith, fans who watched The Clone Wars during its initial run on Cartoon Network from 2008 to 2013 speculated that perhaps she would die by the end of the Clone Wars. What ended up happening instead before the show's initial cancellation after the Disney buyout was that Ahsoka ended up walking away from the Jedi Order in the season 5 finale "The Wrong Jedi." However, the possibility of Ahsoka dying during the Clone Wars was, at one point, in the cards.

In the featurette for "The Wrong Jedi," Filoni revealed the following:

“I don’t think it’s a mystery that I’ve always been a bit more into the ‘Ahsoka Lives’ camp. And George has been very full-on in the ‘Ahsoka Dies’ camp. I think I've said that before. If not, revelation for you. So I thought expelling her from the Jedi Order is a good movement towards that end. And we stand on that bold, new frontier for her. Things have changed. She’s not the same character.” 

I think that it is safe to say that, as long as Dave Filoni is in charge of the character, Ahsoka Tano will somehow live forever. Even after her voice was heard in The Rise of Skywalker, Filoni was quick to suggest that she might not be dead by that point. Personally, the presentation of Ahsoka being seemingly invincible in Star Wars: Rebels via her confrontation with Darth Vader and what followed. It showed that Filoni was willing to bend time and space forward and backward in order to make sure that Ahsoka survives. It did not feel as natural as her path in The Clone Wars. Imagine if Ahsoka had never appeared in Rebels, and the last we saw of her was the end of The Clone Wars season 7 earlier this year, before seeing her in live-action. Obviously, there would have had to be some changes here and there, but the reason for Ahsoka living as long as she has might not have felt as eye-roll-y with how she was used in Rebels omitted. It would have been a nice little mystery for a while. I love the character, but I have my reservations regarding how she has been handled at certain points. However, I know that I am in the minority, and that much of the fanbase is just happy to get more Ahsoka Tano no matter what.

All of that aside, I find it interesting that George Lucas was in the Ahsoka dies camp, as well as the Maul lives camp. We know that he considered having the character return in the sequel trilogy before he sold Lucasfilm to Disney. Ultimately, neither of these ideas from George ended up coming to fruition. But all of this is interesting given that, in The Clone Wars season 7 this year, Ahsoka and Maul ended up going toe to toe. They became two sides of a coin, so to speak. It is funny how things work out sometimes.

Source(s): Inside The Magic