The final episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars arrives on May the 4th, also known as Star Wars day. While the show has done a lot of heavy lifting to broaden the depth of series canon — from individual Jedi, to the clones, to the seedy underworld of the Republic — at the heart of the show lies Ahsoka Tano.
So how did she become one of the most celebrated Star Wars characters ever? We've put together a Clone Wars Ahsoka Tano watch guide to help viewers new and old catch up with her journey.
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The following guide details her journey across Clone Wars, broken down into individual arcs that can build a playlist of various sizes for your marathon leading up to May the 4th. While many of the show’s episodes feature Ahsoka, this list has been whittled down to the ones with the most impact on either her character development, the greater Star Wars canon, or both.
Each arc consists of three to four episodes, for about 75-100 minutes each. This list is enough to fill the whole weekend leading up to the finale, though each arc is standalone if you want to condense it for only May the 4th.
The Clone Wars Film
If you’re new to this series, it’s true that the initial theatrical film is...not the finest work by The Clone Wars team.
The biggest issue may be tone — as the series moves on, it matures in tone (as does Ahsoka, who is a bit of an audience surrogate for the initial target audience of young children).
Technically, the show’s animation improves as it goes on, so the character movements and expressions can feel stilted as well. However, it opens the door to Anakin and Ahsoka’s relationship in the first 30 or so minutes before veering off into a Hutt plot.
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Season 2: "Holocron Heist" / "Cargo of Doom" / "Children of the Force"
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- Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
The opening arc of Season 2 is a rousing adventure that introduces fan-favorite bounty hunter Cad Bane.
While it gets the core trio of Ahsoka, Anakin, and Obi-Wan into action, this arc also goes deeper into some of the logistics behind Jedi operations and what the Order deems to be truly valuable.
Season 2: "Weapons Factory" / "Brain Invaders"
These two episodes make up half of a bigger story about the second battle of Geonosis and its ensuing fallout.
The episodes alternate, hence the Anakin/Obi-Wan episode "Legacy of Terror" coming between them.
For Ahsoka, this marks her introduction to padawan Barriss Offee, who plays a significant role in Ahsoka’s Season 5 arc.
Season 3: "Heroes on Both Sides"
An episode that dives into the inner politics of the Clone Wars, this marks a maturation point for Ahsoka.
Visually, her costume changes. This shift marks the passage of time, but for Ahsoka, she’s seeing the enemy on a personal level for the first time — not just battle droids as lightsaber fodder.
Season 3: "Overlords" / "Altar of Mortis" / "Ghosts of Mortis"
Supervising Director Dave Filoni is often considered the heir to George Lucas's vision of Star Wars, and the Mortis arc represents the combination of their visions.
Ahsoka has her part to play here, but the trio of episodes focuses more on the ethereal realm of the Force and Anakin's role in being the Chosen One.
Past and future collide, and while we as viewers know Anakin's fate, there's a twist involving Ahsoka that inverts expectations of Jedi and Sith roles.
Season 5: "A War On Two Fronts" / "Front Runners" / "The Soft War" / "Tipping Points"
The Onderon arc of The Clone Wars is important for two different reasons. First, it shows how the Republic is dealing with — and working with — insurgent groups, which is a very real parallel to the nuances of war in our modern world.
Second, it introduces Saw Gerrera, who moves on to be a pivotal piece of the Rebellion and the first animated character to be portrayed in a live-action show courtesy of Forest Whitaker in Rogue One.
Season 5: "The Gathering" / "A Test Of Strength" / "Bound for Rescue" / "A Necessary Bond"
This series of episodes shows Ahsoka taking the role of leader and protector. As she guides younglings in their quest for lightsaber crystals, the journey goes wrong courtesy of bounty hunters, and Ahsoka must take on the role of mentor for the scared younglings.
It’s an interesting dynamic flip made all the better with guest star David Tennant, who won an Emmy for his performance as the ancient Jedi droid Huyang.
Season 5: "Sabotage" / "The Jedi Who Knew Too Much" / "To Catch A Jedi" / "The Wrong Jedi"
The final arc of the original Clone Wars run shows the most pivotal moment of Ahsoka’s life — how she lost her faith in the Jedi Order.
Not only does this provide greater context to Anakin’s fractured relationship with the Jedi Council in Revenge of the Sith, it goes to great lengths to highlight the reasons why the Order would inevitably fall. It’s also a really cool whodunnit arc.
Season 7: "Gone With A Trace" / "Deal No Deal" / "Dangerous Debt" / "Together Again"
As Ahsoka gets in league with a pair of amateur spice runners, things go sideways and lead to trouble with some bigger names in the galactic underworld.
Ahsoka's penultimate arc is a quieter story that gives a glimpse into her post-Jedi life while doing some heavy lifting about the working class of the galaxy.
This is particularly notable for the inclusion of level 1313 of Coruscant, which was originally conceived for a video game that never got out of development.
Season 7: "Old Friends Not Forgotten" / "The Phantom Apprentice" / "Shattered" / "Victory and Death"
The final arc of The Clone Wars skillfully acts as a standalone tale that caps off this era for its most notable hero (Ahsoka) and villain (Darth Maul).
The two both feature later in Rebels, yet these episodes achieve an incredible balance by telling a wholly original and important story that's been a large focus of Star Wars TV (Mandalore) while also running parallel to Revenge of the Sith.
Knowing that various milestones have happened (Anakin and Obi-Wan depart for Coruscant, Dooku's death, etc.) creates a twist on tension: we know Ahsoka (and Maul) will survive, yet how they experience the impending paradigm shift brought by Order 66 is a unique conflict all on its own.
Sam Witwer, the voice of Maul, called the arc the best thing the crew has ever done, and on May the 4th, it all comes to an end.
Featured still from "Star Wars: Clone Wars" via Lucasfilm.
