Warning: This article contains spoilers for Ahsoka episode 7 from the off.
Ahsoka might be a sequel to The Clone Wars and Rebels animated series, but it certainly hasn’t left the many fans of the movies in the audience feeling short-changed. What with Hayden Christensen back as Anakin Skywalker and the return of the opening crawl, the Rosario Dawson vehicle has made sure to treat fans of the original and prequel trilogies each and every week. And now its latest surprise cameo has proven a prediction about the sequel trilogy once again correct.
Episode 7 sees the return of Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, with the protocol droid arriving just in the nick of time to save Hera from being court-martialed from the New Republic with a message from Leia. This is the first time Threepio has turned up in The Mandalorian corner of the Star Wars galaxy, although he previously popped up for a Disney Plus cameo in last year’s Obi-Wan Kenobi. So it’s fair to say his cast-iron belief that The Rise of Skywalker would not be his final time in the franchise was bang on the money.
Anthony Daniels really didn’t want The Rise of Skywalker to be Threepio’s final appearance
While speaking to Esquire ahead of TROS‘ release in November 2019, Daniels admitted that he’s a “realist” so he doesn’t necessarily expect to play Threepio on the big screen again, but he was convinced that he hadn’t said goodbye to Star Wars yet, anticipating that further projects — even if they wouldn’t be “as great as movies” — would come his way. As he put it:
“It was strange to think that this was the third time, although this time, probably, it is true. I’m a realist. You know, it’s a role in a film, it’s not life. It’s a piece of artifice. And, it’s been a magical ride. Some rocky places, but it’s been magic. And maybe it’s time to put away that side of it. But I don’t think it’s the last time you’ve heard from Threepio, or, indeed, from me. There are other things – not as great as movies, perhaps. But Threepio is too valuable to put away. To valuable as a character in it. He will always exist very strongly in the electronic media ether that we all inhabit now.”
One month after this interview published, The Rise of Skywalker hit theaters and, well, to say it didn’t live up to expectations for the grand finale of the Skywalker Saga would be like saying Hoth is a bit cold. In hindsight, then, it’s entirely reasonable that Daniels was not-so-silently praying that TROS wouldn’t prove to be his final time donning Threepio’s golden boots and, thanks to Obi-Wan Kenobi and then Ahsoka, that wish has since come true. At least a third comeback for Daniels for C-3PO also doesn’t feel too far-fetched given the many Star Wars shows in the works at Disney Plus.