Following the fall of the Galactic Empire, the rebel and former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano is taking the stage to investigate an emerging threat to the galaxy in the upcoming Disney Plus limited series Ahsoka. It was first announced in Dec. 2020, with Rosario Dawson set to return as the titular character along with the live-action debut of multiple Rebels characters, including the iconic Sabine Wren.
Ahsoka first appeared and joined the Star Wars mythos in the 2008 animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which is set after Attack of the Clones. She then appeared in three more projects, including 2014’s animated Star Wars Rebels, 2019’s live-action Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (as a voiceover cameo), and the miniseries Tales of the Jedi (2022). Ahsoka finally made her live-action debut in the second season of The Mandalorian. But between all these appearances, where does the upcoming series’ story fall in the Star Wars timeline?
Ahsoka‘s timeline in the Star Wars universe, explained
The official Star Wars account on X (Twitter) confirmed at the time of announcing the series that Ahsoka will be set within the timeline of The Mandalorian. It is set after the events of Return of the Jedi (1983) and serves as a continuation of the animated series Star Wars Rebels. Actress Natasha Liu Bordizzo, set to make her Star Wars debut as the Rebel character Sabine Wren also confirmed to SFX Magazine (via GamesRadar) that “Ahsoka runs along the same timeline as The Mandalorian season 3, and the shows are all connected. There are just so many parallels.”
Now, The Mandalorian began five years after The Return of the Jedi (set in 4 ABY), which means the events of season 1 take place in 9 ABY (i.e., 9 Years After the Battle of Yavin and the destruction of the first Death Star). Various events in season three, including in episode 5 in which Mando recounts Greef’s ambush on him “many cycles ago” in Nevarro, established that several years have passed between The Mandalorian seasons 1 and 3.
Since Ahsoka runs concurrently with The Mandalorian season 3, (explaining Ahsoka’s absence from the effort to reclaim Mandalore) this puts Ahsoka‘s story at around 12 ABY in the Star Wars timeline. So, Ahsoka will unfold around the first decade or so of the formation of the New Republic.
How does Ahsoka tie in with the Star Wars trilogies?
Ahsoka’s debut in Star Wars: Clone Wars saw her leaving her parents at the age of three and becoming Anakin Skywalker’s apprentice at the age of 14. This transpires between the second and third films of the prequel movie trilogy. After faking her own death in the series, Ahsoka goes into hiding.
Her next appearance is in Star Wars: Rebels, just five years before the original trilogy, and after 13 years since Clone Wars. The epilogue of the Rebels, which showed Ahsoka and Sabine reuniting after the Battle of Endor, might be a part of the live-action show’s present-day events, since we see a much different Sabine in the scene, with a new hairstyle.
While there is no concrete evidence of Ahsoka’s whereabouts during the original trilogy, a set of Topps‘ trading cards created by producer Dave Filoni suggests that Ahsoka resides at the Sith Temple on Malachor after returning there from the World Between Worlds, and embarks on a spiritual journey (via InsideTheMagic).
In the sequel trilogy, taking place 30 years after the original trilogy ends, Ahsoka doesn’t make any appearance except for a voiceover cameo in the final chapter The Rise of Skywalker. At this point, she is close to 70 years old, given she was 14 during The Clone Wars.
We hear Ahsoka when Rey (played by Daisy Ridley) reaches out to the Force for guidance while near death during her battle with Emperor Palpatine on Exegol. Several Jedi (including Ahsoka) then speak to Rey from beyond and give her the drive she needs to destroy the Sith Lord once and for all.
Hopefully, the upcoming series will answer all persisting questions as the series is scheduled to have a total of eight episodes. Ahsoka premieres on Disney Plus on Aug. 23, 2023, with two episodes, and subsequent episodes will release weekly on Wednesdays until Oct. 4, 2023.
