Team Ahsoka Celebrates Its 1st Anniversary

As the old saying goes: Time flies when you’re having fun. And what a fun-filled year it’s been for Team Ahsoka!

It’s hard to believe that a full year has gone by since I launched this site. While some of the plans I had for the site have yet to come to fruition, I’m pleased with the progress made thus far. Not to mention I’m absolutely thrilled and honoured to be part of such a welcoming, vibrant fan community. Seriously, this site and its social media channels would be nothing if it weren’t for the rest of you.

Thank YOU for your support over the past twelve months. 🙂

For the benefit of my newer readers and followers, here’s an overview of what Team Ahsoka has been up to over the past year:

• Launched a (sometimes) weekly Fan Art Friday feature to promote the work of some of the community’s most talented artists;

• Put together a list of Ahsoka’s appearances in other canon media;

• Wrote about my visit to the Star Wars Identities exhibition;

• Compiled a list of amazing action figure photos featuring the Black Series Ahsoka Tano figure;

• Asked the fan community to tell me who they’d cast as Ahsoka Tano in a live-action feature film;

• Wrote about several fan creations and projects, which included an Ahsoka Tano costume made entirely out of yarn, several crochet figures of Ahsoka, a gallery of colouring pages you can download for your kids (or yourself), and an impressive collection of Star Wars peg dolls;

• Shared the link to Toys Being Awesome’s unorthodox (and hilarious) Ahsoka Tano Black Series figure review;

• Put together a list of fan-made webcomics about Ahsoka Tano;

• Published my review of E.K. Johnston’s best-selling novel, Star Wars: Ahsoka;

• Posted a summary of the “Life and Times of Ahsoka Tano” panel, which was held at Salt Lake Comic Con in September 2016;

• Published a short review of the Funko Pop! Ahsoka Tano figure;

• Curated a bunch of tweets and photos showing how Tano fans celebrated their Halloweens;

• Tried my best to keep readers up to date on all the latest Ashley Eckstein and Her Universe news (it’s tough!);

• Published my review of Michael Moreci and Phillip Sevy’s fan-made comic, “Touching Darkness”, which sees Ahsoka Tano enlist the help of fellow former Jedi Quinlan Vos;

• Wrote a piece about my first impressions of Ahsoka Tano (and how wrong they were in retrospect);

• Compiled a huge list of tweets, photos, and articles that were shared on Twitter on “Ahsoka Tano Day”, a fan-run initiative by @AhsokaTanosLife;

• Shared a link to The Imperial Talker’s Haiku tribute to Ahsoka Tano;

• Put together a Spotify playlist of songs that reminded me of Ahsoka; and

• Worked on a 7-part series about the “Ahsoka’s Untold Tales” panel, which took me months to complete. Literally.

What’s more, I promised I’d hold an informal “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) as a way to celebrate the site’s first anniversary.

A few of my followers on Twitter and Facebook sent me their questions earlier this week so, naturally, they deserve some answers.

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Question from Bryan G – “Do you think Ahsoka will come back in season 4 of Rebels?”

Good question! I know that Dave Filoni has hinted that we’ll learn more about what happened to Ahsoka in a later season but I don’t know if this means she’ll actually be back on the show or whether we’ll just hear about it from one of the other characters, possibly Kanan or Bendu, assuming he’s still around. I’d love to have her back on Rebels but it could complicate things a little, especially since the series is rapidly approaching the Rogue One/A New Hope timeline.

In any case, I’m sure she’ll be back in some form at some point in the future. #AhsokaLives

Question from Samantha H – “Do you think Ahsoka will be a Force ghost?”

Could Ahsoka appear as a Force ghost? This one’s tricky as we don’t know if she ever learnt how to manifest herself as a Force ghost. I believe Filoni argued that Ahsoka might not know how to do that and, to be fair, if she did know how to do it, what’s stopped her from appearing in Force ghost form in season 3?

So while I don’t think she’ll be back as a Force ghost, I do think she may have found some other way to cheat death. Those mysterious owl-like convorees we’ve seen on the show must mean something. Not to mention Ahsoka’s connection with The Daughter of Mortis. Let’s not forget, Ahsoka died and was then resurrected during her time on Mortis, so she’s already cheated death once. I have a feeling some elements from that Mortis arc will play a vital role in understanding what happened to her after her duel with Vader.

Question from Sam S – “Do you think that Ahsoka can hear the Daughter speak to her because they are a part of each other?”

That’s an interesting thought. I don’t think there’s been any indication of this on The Clone Wars or in the Ahsoka novel but that’s not to say it isn’t a possibility. Perhaps she learnt how to communicate with The Daughter (or at least feel her influence) in the years between the novel and her appearance on Rebels, much like how Yoda and Obi-Wan learnt how to commune with Qui-Gon during their time in exile.

Again, I’d be very surprised if the events of the Mortis arc don’t pay off in some way in future stories.

Question from @ToxicDubz707 – “What genre of music do you think Ahsoka listens to?”

Hmm. It’s hard to say. She strikes me as a bit of a pop/rock kind of woman, perhaps favouring songs with an empowering, upbeat message…but that could also be wishful thinking on my part as that’s the sort of music I’m into.

If you’re interested, I compiled an Ahsoka Tano playlist on Spotify, which features the likes of Katy Perry, Sia, David Guetta, Kylie Minogue, the Foo Fighters, and Queen.

Question from Stephen Q – “Did Ahsoka help create the “Knights of Ren” with Sabine Wren? All this happened after season 2 when she went under the shadows.”

Honestly, I really don’t think so. I can’t see a reason for Ahsoka or Sabine to establish a group that (I’m assuming) is so closely associated with the Dark Side.

The origin and nature of the Knights of Ren still needs to be explored in canon but I find it hard to believe that a) Ahsoka would have helped found this group and b) Lucasfilm would expect moviegoers to have watched an animated TV series in order to understand who the Knights of Ren are and where they came from. I guess we’ll find out once The Last Jedi is out later this year!

Question from Fiona M – “Do you think Ahsoka could have redeemed Vader?”

No, I don’t think she would have been able to redeem Vader. Filoni and the Lucasfilm Story Group have certainly pushed the idea that Luke was the only person who could redeem Vader and I agree with them. Ahsoka was a direct link to Vader’s (or, more specifically, Anakin’s) past and we know from the novel Lords of the Sith that Vader is pained, even outraged, by memories of his former life.

Ahsoka was just one more reminder of the life he once had (and lost), not to mention one of the few people who knew the good man Anakin had once been. At this stage in his life, Vader would rather destroy any remaining links to his part rather than face the grim reality of what he has become.

Question from @TopOfTheLeft – “Where do baby Togrutas come from?”

Ah, asking the important questions. Well, when a mummy Togruta and a daddy Togruta love each other…

Actually, let’s not even go there. I’m not even sure Pablo Hidalgo has a clear-cut answer for this one. 😉

Question from Wesley van W – “Del Rey comes to you and asks you to write a new Ahsoka novel. Do you comply or crumble under the debilitating pressure?”

Is it possible to comply *and* crumble under the debilitating pressure?

Honestly, I’m not much good at writing fiction. I may have my complaints about the E.K. Johnston novel but I seriously doubt I’d be up to the challenge of penning a novel.

That said, if Del Rey were to approach me about working on a visual dictionary-style book about Ahsoka, I wouldn’t say no. ^_^

Question from J.B. – “We’re all here because we feel a connection to this plucky Togruta. How and when did Ahsoka become your favourite character?”

Anyone who has been following me for a while will know that while I didn’t initially hate Ahsoka like some fans did, it took me about a season or so to really warm up to her. In fact, I wrote about this very subject back in January.

It’s impossible for me to pin down the exact moment Ahsoka became my favourite Star Wars character but it must have happened around halfway through season 3 of The Clone Wars.

Suddenly, Ahsoka was no longer just a key figure in Anakin’s character development; she was a character in her own right. She learns to think critically about the various factions involved in the war, she begins to question the status quo and the motives of those around her, she exhibits an inner strength most people can only dream of, and she shows time and time again that, despite everything, she has grown up to become a capable leader with a strong moral compass, qualities that would serve her well later in life.

Her journey from plucky Padawan to disillusioned former Jedi to resourceful rebel leader is one of the most fleshed out, most masterfully written character arcs in the entire Star Wars franchise. It’s just a damn shame that she’s still relatively unknown to those who’ve only watched the live-action films…

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And that’s it for my AMA and for Team Ahsoka’s blog anniversary celebration.

Thank you all once again for your amazing support over this past year. Your words of encouragement and interest in all things Ahsoka are the reason I haven’t thrown in the proverbial towel. It’s been a challenging year where real life and politics are concerned but the Star Wars fan community has continued to be a beacon of light in these troubling and uncertain times.

Here’s to many more years, Ahsoka fans! Let’s see what the future – and Star Wars Celebration Orlando – has in store for us. 😉