This is the Ahsoka Tano, a veritable legend
in the Star Wars franchise.
Ahsoka is loved by countless people
across every generation of fans.
But she didn't start out that way.
In fact, her mere existence was enough to send the fandom
into a Sith-like rage.
[SCREAMING]
So what changed to inspire such a powerfully positive shift
in public opinion?
In a word, patience.
I admit Ahsoka is a little rough around the edges.
But with the great deal of training and patience,
she might amount to something.
The character of a Ahsoka Tano, voiced by Ashley Eckstein,
was created for the Clone Wars TV series
by George Lucas and Dave Filoni.
Unfortunately for Ahsoka, her first actual appearance
was made in the absolutely abysmal 2008 Clone
Wars animated movie, which released ahead of the show
and served as a kind of pilot episode.
From her first few moments on screen,
it was clear that this 14-year-old Togruta
was going to make a miserable film-going experience that
much worse.
Fitting neatly into that bratty and precocious child character
archetype that was already tired back in 2008,
Ahsoka was overconfident, argumentative, and just plain
annoying.
Stop calling me that.
You're stuck with me, Sky Guy.
Her role as Anakin Skywalker's unwanted Padawan
not only contradicted much of the prequel movie trilogy
but completely muddled Anakin's story
as we had come to know it.
No matter how much Yoda waxed poetic
about Anakin having to learn a lesson about letting go,
it simply didn't make sense for him to take on a Padawan.
This can all be chalked up to the poor writing and quality
of the movie overall.
It wasn't exactly the exciting teaser for the TV show
that Filoni and Lucas had hoped it would be.
And it certainly wasn't a glowing first impression
for one particularly brash youngling.
Nevertheless, the Clone Wars TV show
would premiere about a month later.
This time, creative director Dave Filoni
and the rest of the creative team
would find the audience to be much more welcoming.
Animations had improved somewhat,
fan favorite characters were back to proper form,
and there were plenty of exciting dog fights
and lightsaber battles to keep kids entertained.
The main complaint was the sheer amount of filler content
and downright terrible comedic relief injected
into every early episode.
A Jedi?
Jedi?
Where's the Jedi?
I do believe they mean you.
Meesa not a Jedi.
The more time Star Wars fans spent
with Ahsoka Tano, the more obvious the problems
with her character became.
Her overconfidence often took the form
of her speaking out of turn or rushing herself
and others into unnecessary danger.
Her argumentative nature meant that she
balked at the authority of established characters
and displayed a blatant disrespect for her teachers.
So it's OK when you don't follow what the council says.
Doing what the Jedi council says?
That's one thing.
How we go about doing it, that's another.
Clearly this was all intentional.
Her behavior was meant to mimic that
of her master, whose ultimate fate we were already aware of.
So while seeing Anakin display these traits was a way
to foreshadow his inevitable downfall,
seeing his Padawan fall into the same traps
felt repetitive and frustrating.
This frustration was compounded by the fact
that she never seemed to learn anything.
A lot of the time, her beliefs and actions
were confirmed as being correct, since things usually
panned out for her by the end of the episode-- like when she
spoke over Anakin during a debriefing
and insisted they go look for Jedi master Plo Koon
after his fleet was destroyed and he was presumed dead.
Ahsoka, I want to believe master Plo is alive--
I know he's alive.
I can sense it.
Ahsoka!
[R2-D2 YELLING]
This of course, turned out to be the right thing to do,
as Master Plo and several clone soldiers did in fact survive.
Instances like this were frustrating for viewers
who were less than pleased to see a young Padawan be
so flagrantly impudent in the face of well known characters
like Anakin and Obi-Wan and then be proven right with little
to no consequences, unlike those aforementioned masters who
had struggled due to their own poor decision making.
Through it all, you never gave up.
You did a great job.
But if I'm getting in trouble for this,
you're going to share some of the blame too.
But that would start to change in season one episode 19.
Titled Storm over Ryloth, this episode
marked the first time a Ahsoka was truly held responsible
for her actions.
Not only that, but she was shown actually regretting them.
After brazenly disobeying direct orders during her first outing
as a commander of a starfighter squadron,
several people lost their lives.
Even when Anakin tries to shift blame off of her,
Ahsoka takes responsibility and genuinely understands
the gravity of her decision.
For once, fans were able to see a glimpse of humanity
in the young Padawan.
And when she takes charge again later in the episode,
she does so with the counsel of her squad.
It was an important turning point for her
and also for fans.
It showed viewers that the writers and other creatives
behind the Clone Wars actually understood
Ahsoka's character flaws and were
able to at least acknowledge them.
With each new season, the quality of the animation
improved dramatically due to an increased budget,
lending all of the characters more individual personality.
This helped Ahsoka a great deal, and she
was allowed to emote more frequently
and interact with other characters a lot more
naturally.
But the real change as time passed was in the writing.
Within episodes about the power of the force, Republic
politics, and the cost of war, Ahsoka
learned more lessons about humility,
trust, and the serious responsibility
she is burdened with as a member of the Jedi Order.
Sometimes it would take multiple slip ups
before a lesson finally stuck, but remember that the Clone
Wars team was employing a virtue in their writing
that was also being instilled in Ahsoka--
patience.
I can't let Bane get away.
Patience, master.
Patience.
You're right.
Every time Ahsoka was presented a new hurdle to clear,
it felt natural because we as an audience had already
watched her fumble so many times before.
Entire episodes had already been devoted
to Ahsoka learning to accept help and not
discount the skills and experiences of others
before that lesson would later be used in a useful and more
important context.
We had rolled our eyes at her failures
and cringed at her negligent attitude,
but when she was finally able to overcome them,
we cheered for her.
This is the genius of the Clone Wars creative team
and particularly Dave Filoni.
Ahsoka's character development was so much more impactful
because we had spent so much time with her
at her very worst.
I can't get much closer, Sky Guy.
I knew you'd get here, Snips.
Eventually.
However, over the course of seven seasons and then
a few other supplemental works, she
was allowed to move past the worst of her traits
while becoming a wise leader, powerful force
user, and good friend.
Same as watching a whiny farm boy from a nowhere sand
planet become a Jedi master, witnessing a bratty teenager
turn into a grief stricken, highly capable badass
is made all the more poignant when
you're able to watch it unfold in real time.
You're lucky Anakin didn't show up.
The way you're fighting, you wouldn't have lasted long.
And as the Ahsoka's character was gradually
strengthened during the course of the Clone Wars,
so too was the narrative surrounding her.
Suddenly, we were seeing the war from her perspective.
We were learning alongside her just how complicated
the conflict was and how the Jedi played into it as force
wielding attack dogs.
So when the time came for her to leave the order--
I'm sorry, master.
But I'm not coming back.
--fans that had once hoped the day would come
were heartbroken.
We felt her pain as she walked away
from the organization she had grown up in
and the people she had loved his family.
We felt her pain as we watched the same family try
to butcher her while still wearing the painted helmets
intended to celebrate her return.
And we felt her pain as she struggled
to hide her true identity while reckoning with her most
basic instincts to do good for the people around her.
We felt her pain because we had been there
with her every step of the way.
Now when Ahsoka appears in other Star Wars projects,
she comes with this deeply elaborate backstory
full of trauma, years of training, and nuanced lore.
Revenge is not the Jedi way.
I am no Jedi.
In this way, when she shows up in The Mandalorian and Book
of Boba Fett to watch over Grogu or in the upcoming Ahsoka TV
show to search for Ezra Bridger, her appearance
is all the more valuable to the fabric of the world that's
being weaved.
She adds depth and color where there may not have been before.
Where her existence may have started as something
to mock and hate, it has become a symbol.
She represents what the Jedi should be
and what it might be again.
And for a lot of fans, that makes her the most important
character in the universe.
May the force be with you.
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Outside of the search for Ezra Bridger,
what do you hope to see in the upcoming Ahsoka show?