Did Star Wars Just Copy ‘The Lord of the Rings’?

The cliffhanger ending of Ahsoka episode 4 culminated in one of the best hours of Star Wars television that I’ve ever seen. Ahsoka is faced with her old master, Anakin Skywalker, along with some truly chilling foreshadowing of his future/past as Darth Vader. This final step in her training sees Ahsoka return from the World Between Worlds much changed. Not only does she have a new sense of peace and confidence, but she also has some banging new white robes.

But what do these new robes signify? Here’s what you need to know.

Spoilers ahead for all five current episodes of Ahsoka.

Ahsoka is coming for Gandalf

Ahsoka’s new white robes look much closer to the traditional Jedi robes we’re used to seeing, perhaps signifying a new comfort with belonging, at least in some ways, to the Order that she left. Indeed, I can see elements of Qui-Gon Jinn in the long hood and Obi-Wan Kenobi in the thick wool material. Anakin spoke to Ahsoka at length about how she carries the legacy of her master (Anakin) and her master’s master (Obi-Wan) and even her master’s master’s master (Qui-Gon) within her, so the new ensemble goes somewhere to visually represent that.

However, more importantly, the change in color to white also signifies a fan-generated term: that Ahsoka has become Ahsoka the White. Yes, Gandalf did do it first, but intense change for Ahsoka has often been signified by the presence of white. The epilogue of Rebels saw the former Jedi wearing white robes after undergoing an intense transformation and she also switched from a green to two white lightsabers during the events of The Clone Wars.

In Ahsoka, the change to white robes highlights that she is taking another step along her journey, becoming still more wise and powerful. Already, she is exhibiting skill in a new area of the Force: psychometry. This was highlighted when she was able to feel impressions from the broken map to understand what happened to Sabine Wren. She also demonstrated immense skill in communicating with other creatures, something that, while not new to the Jedi, is known to be harder the larger the animal. Communicating with the enormous purrgil was clearly quite the feat, perhaps marking a step forward for Ahsoka’s powers.

Aside from the practicalities, Ahsoka wearing all-white is symbolic of her place in the wider story. The Sith and their servants tend to wear black, a tradition that’s mirrored in the baddies of Ahsoka (Morgan Elsbeth, Baylan Skoll, and Shin Hati). In wearing white, Ahsoka has cemented her place in opposition to them, rather than simply serving the Republic. Before now, she has been wearing grey, a colour of in-betweens and blending in. Now, she takes up her place as a leader on the side of the good, giving her a newfound sense of certainty that is clear from how she comfortably takes charge and heads into an unknown galaxy.

(featured image: Disney+)

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