Where Was Ahsoka During The Star Wars Original Trilogy?

Although she plays a large role in the Star Wars continuity, Ahsoka Tano is noticeably absent in the original trilogy. While the real-life reason is that she hadn’t yet been created by Lucasfilm’s Dave Filoni for The Clone Wars animated series, the in-universe reason has yet to be revealed. This is rather odd, considering just how integral she was to making the Galactic Civil War happen in the first place.

As seen in the Star Wars Rebels animated series, which takes place in the years before A New Hope, Ahsoka was active under the codename “Fulcrum.” Through this covert persona, the former Jedi acted as an informant who helped coordinate individual rebel cells across the galaxy, culminating in what would eventually become the Rebel Alliance. However, Ahsoka later chose to take a more public role alongside fellow Jedi survivor Kanan Jarrus and his apprentice Ezra Bridger (alongside the rest of their crew aboard The Ghost). This, in turn, leads directly to the mysterious reason why she’s nowhere to be found in the original trilogy.

Related: Ahsoka: Release Date, Trailer, Story & Everything We Know

Ahsoka Disappeared Shortly Before The Star Wars Original Trilogy

In the Star Wars Rebels season 2 finale, Ahsoka’s efforts helping The Ghost crew and Phoenix Squadron resulted in a duel with Darth Vader himself. Having deduced that the Dark Lord of the Sith was once her master Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka refused to retreat. As she and Vader fought at the top of the powerful Sith temple on Malachor, Ashoka was saved by a future version of Ezra, who accessed this moment in the past via the Force vengeance known as The World Between Worlds.

While this experience outside of time and space explained Ahsoka’s appearance in Rebels season 4, she had Ezra send her back to the past on Malachor, where she then disappeared into the ruins of the Sith temple while Vader left the world, unsure of Tano’s fate. This was the last time Ahsoka was seen ahead of her appearance in The Mandalorian season 2 on the planet Corvus, taking place five years after the fall of the Empire and the end of the original trilogy. As such, there’s quite a large gap of time during the Galactic Civil War, where Ahsoka’s whereabouts are still unknown.

The Ahsoka Disney+ TV Show Could Explain Where Ahsoka Was During The OT

Hopefully, the upcoming Ahsoka series will explain Tano’s absence in the original trilogy. A jump from the Rebellion’s origins to the fall of the Empire via the World Between Worlds could explain her disappearance. Likewise, perhaps Ahsoka had been searching the Unknown Regions for Ezra and Grand Admiral Thrawn for years, both of whom went missing prior to A New Hope as well. Either way, flashbacks and/or dialogue explaining where she was seems warranted for the Ahsoka series. At the very least, Ahsoka should explain her absence to returning rebels such as Sabine, having been gone during such a critical handful of years in the Star Wars timeline.