Star Wars: Must-Watch Animated Episodes to Binge Before ‘Ahsoka’ Premieres Tonight
Before Ahsoka premieres today, binge these ten episodes of The Clone Wars and Rebels and many of your questions will be answered.
Ahsoka premiers tonight, in something like twelve hours. By now, if you haven’t seen any of the animated shows, you’re probably at least passingly familiar with Ahsoka Tano. She was Anakin Skywalker‘s Padawan who managed to become the fandom’s favorite character, yet she never appeared in any live-action movies. And that’s enough knowledge to get by on.
But there’s a lot to Ahsoka and you probably have at least a few questions before episodes one and two of her stand-alone show are streaming tonight. So let’s cover the basics and answer your most pressing questions by binging just these couple of episodes today before Ahsoka‘s big season premiere. If you like them, you can always swing back through for the rest.
The Clone Wars: Season 5, Episode 20
We are skipping over a lot of The Clone Wars. But that’s not because it’s bad. In fact, despite a slow and childish first season, this is a really great show. But you probably won’t learn too much about Ahsoka from it that you’ll need to know or couldn’t infer going forward. Sure, this is when we see her relationships form with Anakin, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padme, all of the clones… basically everyone we love. But you likely already know that she knows all of those people and leads clones–she was a Force-user during the Clone Wars.
This episode, The Wrong Jedi, is one of Ahsoka’s most important ever. She is accused of bombing the Jedi Temple and put on trial by Tarkin. Of course, Ahsoka didn’t do it, but the entire Jedi Council turn their back on her anyhow, and it seems that her only remaining friend is Anakin.
When people ask what happened to Ahsoka that we don’t see her for Episode III, this is the episode that answers that. These are also some of the most formative moments of her character arc and influence everything about her going forward.
The Clone Wars: Season 7, Episodes 9-12
I know, I know, telling you to watch four consecutive episodes in a quick-binge list seems unfair. But this literally marks just five episodes in all of The Clone Wars. And these four episodes watch seamlessly like a movie. They are also some of the best Star Wars I’ve seen and they cover a lot of ground.
By season seven we haven’t seen Ahsoka in a little while, but she’s heavily featured in the final season. And these final episodes take us to the Siege of Mandalore. Darth Maul (who, in case you missed it, is still alive and worse but also better than ever) is there for a hostile takeover. Ahsoka and her entire former troop of clones are as well. And then Order 66 goes through.
These episodes are crucial to understanding not only the fall of Mandalore, but where Ahsoka was during Order 66, how she survived, and what she felt at the exact moment Anakin fell to the dark side.
Rebels: Season 1, Episode 15
We don’t see Ahsoka at all until the very end of the first season of Rebels–and we don’t need to, she’s not the show’s main character by a long shot. But seeing her back after all of that time and as an adult and spy for the budding rebellion was a huge moment in the Star Wars fandom.
In general, I recommend watching most-to-all of Rebels when you can, considering how many of the main characters will be back in live-action tonight. But this will give you a taste of who they are, what they’re up against, what Ahsoka’s return looked like, and a few hints as to what she’s been up to for the last couple of galactic years.
Rebels: Season 2, Episodes 21-22
Ahsoka makes reference a few times to the fact that Anakin and Darth Vader may be linked, but it always seems like a thought to quickly brushes off or doesn’t want to focus on. These episodes force her to reconnect with that knowledge once and for all. These episodes also end on something of a cliffhanger that isn’t resolved until…
Rebels: Season 4, Episode 13
The main cast and crew of Rebels goes off to do other stuff and we sort of move Ahsoka’s story to the backburner. But this episode comes back to the last we saw her battle with Vader. And you guys, it gets wild. We look a little more at what the Force is and what powers it truly has and see a literal ‘world between worlds’ created by the Force.
A lot of weird concepts are introduced into Star Wars as canon that haven’t been touched on yet–and honestly, I’m thankful. Some of what happens in this episode would be awful with a less competent writer. But I really hope we come back to this and its implications for the galaxy one day.
Also, we finally see how Ahsoka’s battle with Vader concludes.
Rebels: Season 4, Episode 15
This isn’t one of Ahsoka’s most important episodes. But it might just be the most important episode to watch before Ahsoka premieres. It looks like the show will pick up almost directly from where Rebels leaves off, and there were many questions left unanswered.
What episodes do you think are required Ahsoka-watching before the live-action series? Which Clone Wars or Rebels episode is your favorite? Have you seen these shows yet, or will you be catching up soon? Let us know in the comments!
May the Force be with you, adventurers!
