Star Warshas finally completed a two-year-old Inquisitor retcon, but it’s pretty much erased one of Ahsoka Tano’s best stories from canon.Disney canceledStar Wars: The Clone Warsin 2013, but many plot threads were explored in other mediums over the years - most notably the ongoing stories of Ahsoka Tano and Darth Maul. Then, in a shocking twist,The Clone Warswas revived years later, and other key parts of Ahsoka’s story were animated inTales of the Jedi. The problem? They don’t really gel, particularly with E.K. Johnston’s novelAhsoka.
The biggest problems came with Ahsoka Tano’s confrontation with an Inquisitor some time after Order 66, which played out in a similar manner - but with some key differences. InAhsoka, she fought the Inquisitor called the Sixth Brother; inTales of the Jedi, she tackled a very different Inquisitor, recently named the Eleventh Brother.Star Wars: Insider#229 contains a feature on the Inquisitors that confirms the Eleventh Brother’s identity, while notably also avoiding describing the Sixth Brother’s death.It honestly does look as though theAhsokascenes have been erased from canon altogether.
Star Wars Is Doubling Down On Tales Of The Jedi
E.K. Johnston’s Novel Just Doesn’t Fit Anymore
In truth, this shouldn’t really be much of a surprise. Johnston’s novel just doesn’t fit well anymore; it describes a very different version of theSiege of Mandalore, for example. InAhsoka, that confrontation with an Inquisitor takes place after Ahsoka Tano has developed a close friendship with two Black sisters who lived on the farming moon of Raada. One was among Disney’s first LGBTQI characters, as revealed in a single scene where she admitted her attraction to Ahsoka.Both sisters are entirely absent fromTales of the Jedi.
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The problems don’t stop there, either. E.K. Johnston’sAhsokareveals how Anakin Skywalker’s former Padawan reached out to Bail Organa, becoming a Fulcrum operative for the nascent Rebel Alliance. Again,Tales of the Jedishows these events very differently. Lucasfilm’s Dave Filoni admittedTales of the Jediwas based on the same rough outline he gave to Johnston for the novel, butthe two interpretations just don’t work side-by-side. It looks as though Johnston’s book should now be considered non-canon.
Our Take On Ahsoka Tano’s Continuity Problems
These Issues Were Sadly Inevitable
When Disney rebooted the canon in 2013, erasing the oldStar WarsExpanded Universe, it was with a promise that everything would now be of equal canonicity. The old EU had often had contradictions that led to the creation of a loose “tiered” approach to canon, where stories were erased if George Lucas decided to tell a different story. We were told that would never happen again, and now we had a single tier of canonicity, with no contradictions.
That was never going to hold, of course, becauseStar Warscontinues to expand at an incredible rate. TheClone Warsrevival andTales of the Jedimade contradictions inevitable, but nobody quite expected them to be as significant as this. It’s a real shame; Johnston’s novelAhsokawas a tremendousStar Warsnovel, and it really doesn’t deserve to be erased from canon like this. Still, canonicity does not equal quality - as those who love the old EU (now called Legends) know all too well.
Source: Star Wars Insider
Ahsoka Tano
The apprentice of Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano was an accomplished Padawan who served during the Clone Wars. Ahsoka left the Jedi after she became disillusioned with the Jedi Council, but returned to serve in the Siege of Mandalore at the end of the Clone Wars. She survived Order 66, becoming a Rebel agent during the Dark Times of the Empire’s reign, and her adventures continue in the New Republic era. Ahsoka was last seen stranded in a distant galaxy, having failed to prevent Grand Admiral Thrawn’s return.
