We’re just under a month away from the release of the highly anticipated Mandalorian spin-off series and Star Wars Rebels successor, Ahsoka. Over the past few months many details on the series have reportedly leaked and it seems as if the ending of the series is already out there.
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Fans of Rebels are already familiar, but for the more casual reader, the villain of the ‘MandoVerse’, Grand Admiral Thrawn has been trapped in an unknown part of the galaxy for many years following a confrontation with the Jedi, Ezra Bridger, in the series finale of Star Wars Rebels. Bridger in a desperate attempt to save his friends and the planet Lothal, his home-world, used a species known as the Purgill to help trap Thrawn and his army before jumping to lightspeed which took Bridger, Thrawn and the latter’s army to an unknown part of the galaxy where they have remained for years. In the Rebels epilogue, Ahsoka Tano and a Mandalorian by the name of Sabine Wren, a friend of Bridger’s, embark on their journey to find the missing Jedi.
In The Mandalorian season two, Tano appeared and confronted a subordinate of Thrawn’s, Morgan Elsbeth, and demanded to know of Thrawn’s location. If Ahsoka and co. can find Thrawn, chances are they’ll be able to find Ezra and stop the return of the Grand Admiral. The Elsbeth character according to reports is building a large vessel to help transport Thrawn from the unknown location he’s been trapped in for years. So here in the story you have two sides in a race to find somebody of great importance to them, both of who are in the same location. The Grand Admiral despite being stuck at an unknown location is still operating from the shadows, controlling the Imperial Remnant left in the galaxy viewers are familiar with as mentioned in The Mandalorian season three, with Moff Gideon questions why Thrawn doesn’t attend the Imperial Shadow Council meetings and just how imminent his re-appearance is.
According to MakingStarWars, both Elsbeth and Tano are both successful in venturing to the location where Ezra and Thrawn have been residing. Thrawn has an army of un-dead Stormtroopers with him whereas Bridger has learned a combat form that mixes martial arts with the Force. Ahsoka Tano and Sabine Wren’s have two goals – locating and rescuing their missing friend, and a second, and arguably more important task was preventing Thrawn and his army from returning to the galaxy. The outlet claims that our heroes fail in this mission and Thrawn triumphantly returns to the galaxy to the dismay of our heroes in the eighth and final episode of the season. In one of the final scenes, Thrawn reportedly walks out from his ship and see’s all of his forces stood before him including Elsbeth, the fallen Jedi, Baylan Skoll, Baylan’s apprentice Shin Hati, his gold faced right hand man named Enoch, and his Imperial army. Thrawn reportedly revels in this moment and promises that a reckoning is coming.
The reported ending truly sets the stage for the untitled ‘MandoVerse’ crossover movie set to be directed by Dave Filoni. The biggest threat to the galaxy since the ‘death’ of Emperor Palpatine has emerged and the New Republic are not ready for the fight that’s about to be on their hands. The New Republic during this time have implemented the Military Disarmament Act which limited the operations of the New Republic army and military, with size of the New Republic defence force shrunk down by ninety percent. It seems the galaxy will have to rely on key players in the MandoVerse including Din Djarin, Boba Fett and the Mandalorian’s, as well as some our lightsaber wielding heroes such as Luke Skywalker.
What’s interesting is that there’s a chance Ahsoka Tano, Sabine Wren and Ezra Bridger are still in the location Thrawn and Bridger were trapped in for many years. It’s not mentioned in the MSW report that Ahsoka and company return by the end of the season, so I wonder if the rumoured second season of Ahsoka would focus on our trio’s journey back to join the impending galactic conflict. I could most certainly see a scene in the crossover event movie where in a moment it seems our heroes such as Din Djarin and Bo Katan Kryze are losing a battle, Ashoka, Sabine and Ezra triumphantly return to help turn the tide.
Currently a second season of Ahsoka hasn’t been confirmed, but it’s been previously reported that a second season was being considered and would be released before Dave Filoni’s MandoVerse crossover event flick along with the fourth season of The Mandalorian, which was due to begin filming in September, but production has been delayed to an unknown time due to the ongoing Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild strikes.
The cast of Ahsoka will not be able to promote the upcoming series ahead of it’s August 23rd release due to the current going SAG-AFTRA strike. As part of the strike, SAG members are not allowed promote work such as TV series, films and so on. SAG-AFTRA, along with the WGA, are both striking in hopes of achieving a fair wage and better working conditions. You can support the actors on strike in various ways including donating to the DSA-LA who have been providing those on the picket lines with food and water along with the Entertainment Community Fund which supports those in the industry that are in need of emergency financial assistance.
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