Why Ahsoka Has To Reunite With Obi-Wan (& How That Could Change His Story)

Star Wars characters Ahsoka Tano and Obi-Wan Kenobi both have solo TV shows due to be released in 2022, and the two are long overdue for a reunion with potentially huge ramifications. For what is potentially one of the most important parts of the Star Wars saga, Hayden Christiansen has been confirmed to appear in both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka as Darth Vader following Anakin Skywalker’s fall to the Dark Side. Consequently, it makes perfect sense for Ahsoka and Obi-Wan to reunite, finally giving a live-action portrayal of the two together. There are a few rumors that this might happen, but nothing has been officially confirmed by Disney so far.

Obi-Wan Kenobi has appeared in six of the main Star Wars movies (eight, if voice cameos in the sequel trilogy count), but Ahsoka Tano is still far less known. The role she plays in Star Wars: The Clone Wars is essential for both Anakin and Obi-Wan, and how they grow as people between Star Wars: Episode II – Attack Of The Clones and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith. Over time, she develops into one of the most interesting characters in Star Wars, eventually turning away from the Jedi path. She was a central character in Clone Wars and played a major role in Star Wars: Rebels, but her only live-action appearance so far is as a guest star in The Mandalorian. Her upcoming solo series will give her character the spotlight she deserves, allowing a unique insight into a force user who’s neither Jedi nor Sith.

A lot has happened since the last time Ahsoka and Obi-Wan met. They were in close contact during the Clone Wars, but since the downfall of the Jedi and the rise of The Galactic Empire, everything is different. It’s a big galaxy, and much of it isn’t safe for Force users anymore. The novelization, Ahsoka, elaborates on how she chooses to remember Obi-Wan fondly, and he’s no doubt grown past any lingering judgment of her “flaws.” Even apart, they’re the closest thing to a family that any of them has ever truly known.

Ahsoka & Obi-Wan Have Strong Connections To Anakin

While Jedi live their lives apart from their biological family, the relationships between a Padawan learner and their master are very much like familial bonds. Both Ahsoka and Obi-Wan treated Anakin like a brother, and even though their relationships weren’t always easy, they always did their best to take care of each other. Similarly, both blame themselves for allowing Anakin to turn to the Dark Side. Obi-Wan acknowledges this in Revenge Of The Sith, telling Anakin, “I have failed you,” and Rebels sees Ahsoka haunted by the belief that she could’ve helped Anakin if she’d been there for him.

Interestingly, the relationship between Anakin and Ahsoka mirrors the relationship Obi-Wan has with Anakin. Obi-Wan is still just a Padawan himself in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace when he first meets Anakin, and he agrees to take Anakin on as his apprentice despite his own lack of experience. Similarly, in Clone Wars, Yoda gives Anakin the task of teaching Ahsoka when he’s still barely finished his own Padawan training to become a full Jedi. Ahsoka, in turn, while she is never anyone’s master, begins her Jedi training at an extremely early age. She starts out deeply insecure about her ability but does her best to mask it with her headstrong attitude.

The feeling of being in over their heads is an experience shared by all three, and whether or not they admit it, this is likely a big part of the reason why they have such a deep familial bond. Similarly, they all share the feeling of powerlessness that comes with losing a loved one and being unable to stop it. Unable to save his mother, Anakin eventually loses Padme too. Ahsoka and Obi-Wan feel similarly when they lose Anakin to the Dark Side. Of all the losses the three must face during their stories, the loss of each other is no doubt the hardest to bear.

Does Ahsoka Know Obi-Wan Is Still Alive?

As things currently stand, Ahsoka has no reason to believe that Obi-Wan is alive. As far as she knows, Order 66 killed off all of the Jedi. Yoda and Obi-Wan wanted to keep people believing this, too, for their own protection, as the ending of Revenge of The Sith shows. From Obi-Wan’s perspective, the only two Jedi who survived are him and Yoda, and the only other person who knows is Bail Organa. All three vow to tell no one to protect Luke and Leia at all costs, and Bail Organa never betrays that secret. Not even to Ahsoka.

Similarly, Obi-Wan has no reason to believe Ahsoka is still alive. The Empire would mercilessly hunt down any Force users they knew of, former Jedi included. Anyone who they couldn’t coerce into joining the Dark Side, they’d certainly execute. Having known Ahsoka so well, Anakin (now Darth Vader) would be sure to try and hunt her down, but therein lies another interesting point. Obi-Wan doesn’t know that Anakin is still alive either.

How Ahsoka Reuniting With Obi-Wan Could Change His Story

By the time Obi-Wan reveals his true identity to Luke Skywalker during A New Hope, he’s fully aware of Darth Vader’s true identity, even though he conceals this from Luke. But at the end of Revenge Of The Sith, Obi-Wan leaves Anakin for dead, dismembered and consumed by fire. Had Palpatine not resuscitated him, Anakin would not have lived. Even though he did survive, his new appearance as Darth Vader is starkly different from the Anakin Skywalker who Obi-Wan once knew.

Ahsoka already went through this, learning the terrible truth during Rebels but refusing to fully believe it until damaging his mask during a lightsaber duel and seeing him with her own eyes. Until this point, even confronting him herself, she still refused to believe who he really was. Obi-Wan has yet to go through this, and Ahsoka could be the one to break the bad news to him. Knowing Obi-Wan, he would no doubt refuse to believe it, just like Ahsoka did, and would probably need to confirm it himself.

All of this is certain to be an emotional rollercoaster for Obi-Wan, still in exile on Tatooine, and it could possibly become a key part of his story. Learning that Ahsoka and Anakin are both still alive and then learning that Anakin is now one of the Sith who rule the galaxy will be a lot to take in. As a Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi has excellent mental fortitude, but this much turmoil would doubtless make it difficult for even Obi-Wan to remain mindful of his thoughts.

Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, and Anakin Skywalker share a unique relationship within Star Wars. In many ways, they’re found family, regarding each other as siblings and starting out still learning from each other. As they grow and develop, they find themselves splintered apart, walking down completely different paths. A Jedi Master, a Sith Lord, and a masterless ronin aligned with neither side. Sharing such a deep bond but having all changed so much, a reunion between the three of them will lead to some of the most powerful moments of any Star Wars story.

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