Every ‘Star Wars’ Easter Egg and Reference in ‘Ahsoka’ (So Far)

The new Ahsoka series om Disney+ is a continuation of Ahsoka Tano’s story and builds on many plotlines established in Rebels, The Clone Wars, and The Mandalorian. As such, there are plenty of easter eggs and references to these series, as well as the wider world of Star Wars. Keep reading for our guide to every easter egg in Ahsoka—so far.

Spoilers ahead for Ahsoka!

Episodes 1 and 2: “Part One: Master and Apprentice” and “Part Two: Toil and Trouble”

“I am no Jedi”

Upon infiltrating the New Republic Prison Transport, Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) tells the ship’s captain that he was right and that “[they] are no Jedi.” This is likely a reference to one of Ahsoka’s most famous lines from Rebels, in which she tells Lord Vader, “I am no Jedi.” Turning this into a layered easter egg, the original line is likely a shout-out to the moment in Return of the King when the Witch King of Angmar claims that no man can kill him, and Éowyn responds by saying, “I am no man.”

The Nightsisters of Dathomir

Morgan Elsbeth (the character Ahsoka fought in her episode of The Mandalorian) claims to be descended from the Nightsisters of Dathomir, to which Shin Hati calls her a witch. The Nightsisters are not Sith, but they are a race of warrior women who use the Dark Side of the Force. Prominent Nightsisters in Star Wars include Count Dooku’s Sith assassin Asajj Ventress, Mother Talzin (mother of Darth Maul and leader of the Nightsisters during the Clone Wars), and Merrin from Jedi: Fallen Order / Survivor. Technically, Sabine Wren has encountered the Nightsisters before, having been possessed by them as part of a magical deal gone wrong.

We later see Elsbeth using green flame Nightsister magic to unlock the star map.

Jedi archaeology

Speaking of Jedi: Fallen Order / Survivor, the entire opening of Ahsoka feels very reminiscent of some of the puzzles from that game, with Ahsoka using the Force to solve a puzzle and reveal the star map. She even appears to use Force echos (imprints of the past, essentially) to figure out where to turn the pillars.

The presence of the droid Huyang (David Tennant) also somewhat mirrors ZN-A4’s role in the game as an ancient droid with exclusive knowledge that helps the heroes on their quests.

Hera Syndulla

General Hera Syndulla makes her live-action debut in Ahsoka, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead (who also happens to be married to fellow Star Wars actor Ewan McGregor). The scene in which she and Ahsoka reunite is full of easter eggs, with the whole meeting taking place aboard Home One, a.k.a. Admiral Ackbar’s command ship from Return of the Jedi. Hera also teases Ahsoka for how “it’s never a straight line with you Jedi,” acknowledging her past with the Jedi—specifically Kanan Jarrus, Hera’s partner who died on Lothal. However, there is no mention of Hera and Kanan’s son, Jacen Syndulla, who would be about nine years old at this point, the same age as Anakin during The Phantom Menace and Leia and Luke in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series.

There’s also a moment when Hera and Chopper get into an argument mid-battle as they fly The Phantom II (named such after Ezra Bridger accidentally destroyed The Phantom I on a mission in Rebels).

Independence from the Empire Day

The planet of Lothal, a mainstay in Star Wars: Rebels, has recovered from the blight of Imperial rule in the decade since its liberation. The capital city now features ivory towers much like the ones Ezra envisioned when he imagined a Lothal free of the Empire. During the independence celebration, we also learn that former Governor Ryder Azadi is now Governor again (with voice actor Clancy Brown reprising the role) and that Jai Kell (an Imperial cadet-turned-rebel who may have had some Force sensitivity) is now the planet’s Senator in the New Republic. All of Lothal celebrates this day … except for Sabine Wren, who is still suffering from the loss of her best friend.

Ezra Bridger’s message

In the Rebels finale, Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger left a hologram message behind as a goodbye after predicting he would have to sacrifice himself to liberate Lothal. We find out in Ahsoka that he left an additional message for Sabine Wren, whom he asked to watch over his home world in his absence. While we don’t know for certain, that request may have saved Sabine’s life as it kept her from going back to Mandalore and getting caught up in the Night of a Thousand Tears (a.k.a. Moff Gideon’s “glassing” of the planet via orbital bombardment); despite Sabine’s family being close allies of Bo-Katan Kryze, we have seen no mention of them in The Mandalorian, which does not bode well for their fates.

Sabine herself is clearly still missing Ezra, having moved into his communications tower and adopted a Loth-cat, much like the wild ones he befriended.

Sabine the artist—and Jedi?

Sabine Wren was previously one of the few non-Jedi to wield a lightsaber, having been taught to use the Darksaber by Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger before passing it on to Bo-Katan Kryze. However, Ahsoka goes a step further by revealing that Ahsoka took Sabine on as an apprentice, despite not being Force-sensitive in the traditional sense. However, Ahsoka cut off Sabine’s training for reasons unknown.

Still, Ahsoka knows that, as an artist, Sabine can see things she can’t and thus brings her the star map. This is not the first time Sabine has used her knowledge as an artist to decipher Force codexes. Notably, Sabine was the one who understood the symbolism of the hands, which unlocked the Lothal Jedi Temple’s portal to the World Between Worlds.

Ahsoka Tano and Sabine Wren

I want to take a moment to analyze Ahsoka and Sabine’s relationship as it is somewhat buried under layers of context.

Ahsoka Tano left the Jedi Order, and while she did consider returning, Order 66 happened before she could make that decision. She also lost her master, Anakin Skywalker, to the Dark Side and initially blamed herself for not helping him. Anakin’s fall is why she discouraged Din Djarin from finding a Jedi teacher for Grogu, as she was worried Grogu’s attachment to Din would make him more vulnerable to the Dark Side (like when he Force-choked Cara Dune).

We don’t yet know why Ahsoka chose to teach Sabine the ways of the Jedi, but the show seems to hint that she stopped teaching Sabine out of concern that she was making a lot of the same mistakes Ahsoka and Anakin made. Sabine is very much like teenage Ahsoka; a headstrong young woman who sometimes leaps before she thinks. But Sabine is also like Anakin in that she has few qualms about using violence to protect the people she loves.

Near-fatal lightsaber injury

Sabine is stabbed through the torso with a lightsaber but ultimately survives with only a scar. Some may claim that lightsaber wounds don’t work like that, but characters have survived much worse in Star Wars. Finn was on his feet mere hours after getting his back sliced by Kylo Ren’s lightsaber. Not to mention Darth Maul, Darth Vader, and Darth Sidious all survived being cut in half, losing multiple limbs, being set on fire, and being thrown down a reactor shaft.

The Inquisitors

We also get the return of the Inquisitors with the new character Marrok. The Inquisitors are former Jedi turned to the Dark Side by Darth Vader to hunt the remaining Jedi. They were frequent antagonists in Rebels, Fallen Order, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Marrok appears to be an Inquisitor who turned mercenary after the fall of the Empire. Some have theorized that this masked character could be someone we already know, with some even thinking he could be Ezra Bridger in disguise. However, many of the Inquisitors wear masks in some form, possibly for intimidation or as a tribute to Darth Vader. Some fans also previously thought that the Seventh Sister Inquisitor in Rebels could be Barriss Offee, a Jedi padawan and friend of Ahsoka’s who betrayed her and turned to the Dark Side. These theories were ultimately disproved.

Sabine’s return

Sabine’s entire arc in the second episode seems to focus on whether she will rejoin Ahsoka in her quest. When she finally does commit, she is shown unpacking her Mandalorian armor. While Sabine was not a member of the Children of the Watch like Din Djarin, she was rarely seen without her armor and helmet in Rebels, which makes her introduction sans armor in Ahsoka a bit jarring. Sabine donning her armor once again shows that while she is committing to the path of the Jedi, she is also honoring her Mandalorian heritage (and giving herself extra protection against getting stabbed again). Sabine cutting her hair also provides a visual callback to Kanan Jarrus cutting his hair before going to rescue Hera, while also making Sabine look more like her animated version, whose hair was kept short and practical.

Rebels epilogue

We also get an almost shot-for-shot remake of the Rebels epilogue in these two episodes, starting with Sabine first seeing Ahsoka’s ship and then ending when she commits to finding Ezra.

Episode 3: “Part Three: Time To Fly”

Training

Continuing in the traditional way of teaching the Force, in episode 3 Ahsoka teaches Sabine to use the Force by having her wear a helmet with a visor to prevent her from seeing her opponent. This technique was first used by Obi-Wan Kenobi to train Luke Skywalker, as well as by Yoda with his younglings. Sabine asking how she can fight if she can’t see is almost word-for-word what Luke says to Obi-Wan.

Jacen Syndulla

We also meet Jacen Syndulla, son of Hera Syndulla and Kanan Jarrus. He seems excited to know that his “Aunt Sabine” is training to be a Jedi and wants to be a Jedi too. Considering that Kanan was Force-sensitive, it’s likely that Jacen is, too. Hera doesn’t seem eager to have him trained, possibly because she knows that training means he will be putting himself in more danger. Additionally, Mon Mothma is the first character to ask how Hera’s son is doing, likely a reference to Mon herself being a mother, though we don’t currently know the fate of her daughter after she left the Empire to join the rebellion.

Pilot and Gunner

Ahsoka and Sabine find where Morgan Elsbeth and her forces are rendezvousing, and they find a hyperspace ring much like the ones used by the Jedi starfighters in the Prequels. The space battle that follows is a general reference to many Star Wars space battles, especially the Millennium Falcon’s escape from the Death Star, where Luke got over his grief over losing Obi-Wan long enough to excitedly yell that he shot down a fighter.

When the fight goes down into the cloudy planet atmosphere, it more closely resembles Han Solo making the Kessel run in Solo: A Star Wars Story, complete with giant Kaiju-like monsters to navigate around.

Space Wars

Ahsoka fighting on a ship in a spacesuit calls back to multiple space battles in both The Clone Wars and Rebels where combatants invaded ships using spacesuits rather than boarding tunnels. Arguably, this goes all the way back to the original concept art for Star Wars, where concept artist Ralph McQuarrie sketched Darth Vader’s suit to be a spacesuit, allowing him and his stormtroopers to board ships.

Purrgils

While we got a look at the purrgil traveling through hyperspace in season 3 of The Mandalorian, we see them fully rendered in live action for the first time in the third episode of Ahsoka. This episode also confirms that Ezra and Thrawn were taken along a purrgil migration path, explaining why the map to a different galaxy also shows their location.

Episode 4: “Fallen Jedi”

Huyang’s Got Moves

In Ahsoka episode 4, the lightsaber craftsman droid Huyang is attacked by another droid while repairing Ahsoka’s ship. At first, you might think it’s an unfair fight, but Huyang is very capable, being a droid who has trained Jedi for millennia. He first showed off his fighting skills in his debut episode of The Clone Wars, where even without his arms and head he fought off several pirates.

Marrok

Marrok appears at first to be another faceless antagonist who is hyped up by fans but quickly killed off to make room for the real primary antagonists, as was the case with many of the previous Inquisitors. However, the burst of green energy as he dies indicates that there may be more to Marrok than meets the eye. The burst of energy as Marrok collapses greatly resembles Nightsister magics and may indicate that Marrok was a Nightbrother or resurrected Force-user under the control of Morgan Elsbeth.

Going rogue

Hera Syndulla continues the long tradition of rebels going rogue against their own high command. In a scene that feels like a direct reference to Rogue One, Hera and some X-wing pilots who agree with her fears about Thrawn’s return take off, with Hera casually saying to her son, “When you’re a general, you can disobey orders.” Of course, The Last Jedi showed how going against orders can lead to bad decisions and consequences, which Hera quickly discovers after trying and failing to stop the hyperspace ring.

Sabine’s family and Jedi attachments

We also now have confirmation that Sabine Wren lost her entire family during the Purge of Mandalore, making her desperation to save Ezra even more tragic. Sabine had a mother, father, and brother—all of whom were originally Imperial loyalists, but rebelled after Sabine discovered the Darksaber and beat Governor Gar Saxon in a duel. Much like Anakin before her, Sabine is ultimately tempted into making a deal with a dark sider, giving Baylan Skoll the map in hopes of being reunited with Ezra.

A new Holdo maneuver

We’ve seen ships crash into other ships at lightspeed, ships pull other ships out of hyperspace, and ships come out of hyperspace in atmosphere in Star Wars. Ahsoka now shows us the wake left behind when a Star Destroyer-sized hyperspace ring takes off in front of other ships, sending out waves of energy that leave X-wings and the Ghost struggling not to hit each other.

The World Between Worlds

We also got the live-action debut of the World Between Worlds, a place that connects all of time and space in the Force. Ezra Bridger previously used it to save Ahsoka from her fight with Darth Vader. This makes it an especially fitting site for Ahsoka and Anakin’s reunion. Unlike traditional Force-Ghosts, Anakin looks very solid, indicating how strong the location is with the Force.

Episode 5: “The Shadow Warrior”

Shadow Warrior

We get an Easter egg right from the start of the episode with the title: “The Shadow Warrior.”

“Shadow” has often been used as a reference to the Dark Side and the many antagonists of Star Wars, such as Darth Maul. The title Shadow Warrior is actually taken from season 4, episode 4 of The Clone Wars, in which Anakin attempts to face Count Dooku on Naboo, only to be beaten thanks to the intervention of some Magna Guards.

Here, the title seems to be used as an exploration of the darkness in both Anakin and Ahsoka, both of whom were peacekeepers turned soldiers.

Clone Wars flashbacks!

We also get a unique use of the World Between Worlds, with the Force literally putting Ahsoka inside of a flashback to her younger self. The flashbacks appear to reference highlights of The Clone Wars, such as the invasion of Teth (depicted in The Clone Wars movie), the liberation of Ryloth in “Storm over Ryloth,” and the Siege of Mandalore in Clone Wars season 7.

This live-action depiction of teenage Ahsoka (played by Ariana Greenblatt) noticeably wears a much more practical outfit than Ahsoka wore in the early seasons of The Clone Wars, with the look taking much more inspiration from her attire in Tales of the Jedi and seasons 3-5 of The Clone Wars.

We also get our first Captain Rex cameo, with him finally being voiced by Temuera Morrison.

Like father, like son

If Jacen Syndulla “having a bad feeling” wasn’t confirmation enough in the previous episode, he proves his Force sensitivity by hearing Ahsoka’s lightsaber battle with Anakin in the World Between Worlds.

Notably, Hera appears to hear it too after some prodding from her son, which could be further exploring the possibility that all beings have the potential to use the Force.

Follow the purrgil

Ahsoka goes full Jonah in the belly of the whale, asking the purrgils to swallow her ship and take her with them on their migration. This tactic was used by Ezra Bridger to abduct Grand Admiral Thrawn and break the Imperial blockade of Lothal.

When Huyang asks how she knows they will take them there, Ahsoka cheerfully replies that she does not know. After her reunion with Anakin, Ahsoka trusts the Force to take her and Huyang where they need to be. This also calls back to when the purrgil were first introduced in Rebels, with the Ghost crew literally following them to find a fuel source they desperately needed to keep the Ghost operational.

Episode 6: “Far, Far Away”

The title of the episode is, of course, a reference to the opening of every main Star Wars movie: “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away …” Jacen Syndulla used the phrase in the previous episode when describing his mother’s stories about how Ezra and the Purrgil saved Lothal. Even better, Huyang uses the phrase when starting his histories/stories from the Jedi Temple Archives.

Great Mothers of the Dathomiri

We are (re)introduced to the Nightsisters through the trio of “Great Mothers,” whose title evokes Mother Talzin, leader of the main Nightsister clan on Dathomir and mother of Darth Maul. The trio of witches calls back to many myths about witches and magic using women, from the Fates of Greek Mythology to the Weird Sisters of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

Grand Admiral Thrawn

We finally meet Grand Admiral Thrawn in person. Ironically, despite Thrawn calling her a “familiar face,” I believe this is Sabine Wren’s first time meeting Thrawn face-to-face; while she and the other Rebels of Lothal had multiple confrontations with the Grand Admiral, she never actually met with him in-person like Hera or Ezra did. This in and of itself may be a reference to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, in which Khan and Kirk never faced each other in person.

Thrawn himself also appears to remember Baylan Skoll being a Jedi during the Clone Wars. However, despite the Disney-era Thrawn novels exploring his friendship with Anakin Skywalker, he does not seem to know that Ahsoka Tano was his apprentice. It will be interesting to see how Ahsoka, Baylan, and Thrawn interact as the three people in the galaxy who knew Anakin as both a Jedi and a Sith.

Transcending language barriers

Not everyone speaks “Basic” (the Star Wars version of English). Nevertheless, lifeforms find ways to communicate despite the language barriers. Much like the rebels in Return of the Jedi learning to bargain with Ewoks, Sabine communicates with the local species, using the Jedi sigil on her shoulder pauldron to communicate that she’s looking for the Jedi Ezra Bridger.

Episode 7: “Dreams and Madness”

C-3PO / Leia cameo

While we don’t get to see Leia herself, we get a C-3PO cameo as he brings in a message from Senator Leia Organa, saying that she cleared General Syndulla’s mission “without realizing” the other senators had. This is heavily implied to be Leia covering for Hera’s insubordination. It does fit in with the Star Wars: Bloodline book, where Leia is seen by other politicians as a dangerous radical who wants the New Republic to maintain a strong military to protect against Imperial Remnants and the First Order.

Anakin’s hologram

We get one more Hayden Christensen cameo as a training hologram. During the training, Anakin warns Ahsoka that she will face more than Battle Droids and mentions the Dathomirian Sith Assassin Asajj Ventress, the Cyborg Separatist General Grievous, and the Sith Lord Count Dooku as possible opponents. Ahsoka faced Grievous and Asajj at different points in The Clone Wars (though ironically three of those fights likely happened long before these recordings were made), and would eventually face the former Sith Lord, Darth Maul, during the Siege of Mandalore.

Anakin appears most concerned about the possibility of Ahsoka facing Dooku, which makes sense as Dooku took Anakin’s hand during a duel right at the start of the war. The dialogue itself mirrors a speech Anakin gave Ahsoka in Tales of the Jedi, warning her that he won’t always be there for her.

Force-timing

Using the Force to find someone is not a new skill, especially when the bond between the Force users is strong; Ahsoka previously used it to find Master Plo Koon and his clone troopers when they were stranded in an escape pod.

The Nightsisters demonstrate a similar ability, using their three orbs to triangulate Ahsoka’s position in the planet’s ring, similar to how Ezra used the fragments of a Sith Holocron to find Maul in Rebels.

Playing the long game

Upon first seeing Thrawn in action, Morgan Elsbeth seems disconcerted by the Grand Admiral ordering a retreat after Ahsoka, Sabine, and Ezra are reunited. This was a common occurrence in Rebels, with most of Thrawn’s subordinates questioning his moves when he seemingly lets the Rebels get away. This did somewhat backfire as Admiral Konstantine became fed up with Thrawn’s perceived inaction, which led to him going against the Admiral’s orders, a move that got him killed and ended up being one of the main reasons why the Rebels are eventually able to escape.

Episode 8: “The Jedi, The Witch, and The Warlord”

Again, the title of this episode is an easter egg, but not for something in Star Wars. The title is instead a reference to C. S. Lewis’ classic fantasy book The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Indeed, both stories are about the struggle between a fantastical, self-sacrificing hero and a witch who threatens the world of the hero. It’s also not the first C. S. Lewis reference in the series, as the World Between Worlds was likely based on Lewis’ Wood Between Worlds.

Building a lightsaber

We get a scene of Ezra Bridger building his third lightsaber, with this saber being based on the design of his Master—Kanan Jarrus, a.k.a. Caleb Dume. This tribute is especially emotional as Ezra and Kanan’s relationship was very strained during the building of his second lightsaber due to Kanan’s recent blinding.

Huyang, despite being a few thousand years old, remembers every youngling he ever taught and apparently kept the spare emitter to Caleb Dume’s saber, just in case he ever needed it. Even the fact that the emitter was “more narrow” than usual is a reference to how the lightsabers of Rebels were controversially thin, resembling fencing foils made of light more than the classic beam.

Nightsister baptism

Like Asajj Ventress before her, Morgan Elsbeth is formally inducted as a Nightsister, only for tragedy to immediately strike. This induction does appear a little different from Ventress’, with Morgan Elsbeth gaining face markings to make her look more like a traditional Dathomirian Nightsister. She also receives the Blade of Talzin, which Mother Talzin used to fight Mace Windu during The Clone Wars.

Classic Ezra moves

Ezra Bridger continues to be himself, pulling off a lot of classic Ezra moves from Rebels. One of these is his and Kanan Jarrus’ signature move: using the Force to throw a partner over a great height/distance. Ezra also pretends to be a Night-trooper, using an unconscious trooper’s comlink to draw attention away from himself, before stealing the trooper’s armor and an Imperial shuttle.

Old habits die hard for a Lothal street kid, I suppose.

The convor and the Mortis gods

We also get a few hints that the planet of Peridea may be stronger in the Force than Ahsoka and Sabine realize. Ahsoka sees a white convor, possibly meant to be Morai, the animal form of the Daughter. The Daughter is one of the Mortis gods who embody the Light Side, the Dark Side, and the Balance of the Force. Ahsoka has a strong connection to the Daughter, who once brought her back from the dead.

We actually see Baylan Skoll standing on a massive statue of the Father and the Son somewhere else on Peridea, though the statue of the Daughter appears to have been partially demolished.

The last time we saw the Mortis gods was when they introduced the World Between Worlds in Star Wars Rebels, meaning we might be seeing more exploration of the cosmic Force next season.

(featured image: Disney+)

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