Ahsoka Tano was a young Jedi Padawan who was assigned to Anakin Skywalker during the Clone Wars. After being framed for a crime she didn’t commit, Ahsoka became disillusioned with the Jedi Order and made the difficult decision to walk away and leave the Jedi life behind.
Quick Summary
Ahsoka Tano was a headstrong, brave and talented Jedi Padawan who fought alongside Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi during the Clone Wars. She was framed for a deadly bombing and treason by her friend Barriss Offee, who had become disillusioned with the Jedi Order. Although Ahsoka was ultimately exonerated, the Jedi Council had initially expelled her from the Order. Feeling betrayed and losing faith in the Jedi, Ahsoka refused the Council’s offer to rejoin the Order and walked away from being a Jedi.
Ahsoka’s Early Life
Ahsoka Tano was discovered as a young child when Jedi Master Plo Koon brought her to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant to be trained as a Jedi. She displayed an exceptionally strong connection to the Force at a very young age. As she grew up in the Jedi Temple, she became an adept fighter and force wielder. She crafted a blue lightsaber and became a Padawan by the age of 14, which was younger than most Jedi apprentices.
When the Clone Wars erupted between the Galactic Republic and the Separatist Alliance, Jedi Grand Master Yoda assigned the newly knighted Anakin Skywalker to be Ahsoka’s master. The two of them forged a close bond as Master and Padawan, fighting numerous battles together alongside the clone troopers against the Separatist Droid Army.
Ahsoka’s Life as a Jedi Padawan
As Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan learner, Ahsoka Tano developed impressive skills with a lightsaber and the Force. She wielded an unorthodox reverse grip lightsaber style and proved to be a creative and tactical thinker on the battlefield. Ahsoka was eager to prove herself worthy of being a Jedi and pushed herself to fight and lead on the frontlines, despite her young age and inexperience.
Throughout the Clone Wars, Ahsoka grew from a headstrong teenager into a mature and capable warrior. She fought alongside Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi in numerous battles, from the grassy plains of Christophsis to the devastated world of Maridun. Her skills as a pilot and mechanic also proved invaluable on many missions.
Key Moments
Some of Ahsoka’s most significant moments as Anakin’s apprentice included:
- Leading a squadron of clone troopers during the Battle of Christophsis and helping break the Separatist blockade.
- Facing off against the assassin Asajj Ventress several times, eventually defeating her on Coruscant.
- Disobeying orders with Anakin to rescue Obi-Wan Kenobi on Vanqor and surviving a crash-landing on the neutral planet of Maridun.
- Forming a close friendship with Clone Captain Rex and other clones under Anakin’s command.
- Surviving her first command of a Republic cruiser during a perilous battle and blockade over Ryloth.
These experiences shaped Ahsoka into a seasoned warrior. But they also exposed some flaws in the Jedi Order that would ultimately lead her to walk away.
The Framing of Ahsoka Tano
Ahsoka’s experiences in the Jedi Order came crashing down when she was framed for treason and murder. A friend of Ahsoka’s, a Jedi Padawan named Barriss Offee, had become disillusioned with the Jedi leadership over their conduct in the war.
Barriss sabotaged a Jedi temple hangar on Coruscant and used the Force to make Ahsoka appear guilty of the bombing. After more clone troopers were killed by another bombing, Ahsoka was blamed and arrested.
Expelled from the Jedi Order
The Jedi High Council expelled Ahsoka from the Jedi Order so that she could have a trial before the Republic court, as a citizen rather than Jedi. Anakin desperately searched for evidence and the true culprit to free Ahsoka.
During her trial, Ahsoka was betrayed again when Barriss posed as her defense and deliberately led Ahsoka’s friend Anakin to damning evidence. In the end, Anakin uncovered Barriss as the real murderer and Ahsoka’s name was cleared. But the damage to Ahsoka’s faith in the Jedi had already been done.
The Jedi Council’s Betrayal
By not standing up for her innocence initially, Ahsoka felt the Jedi Order had abandoned her when she needed them most. Even after discovering the truth, the Jedi Council offered to welcome Ahsoka back as if nothing had transpired. But she refused, seeing only hypocrisy and betrayal in the Order now.
Ahsoka made the fateful decision to walk away from the Jedi Order forever. Despite Anakin’s protests, she knew she could no longer trust the Jedi Council and felt disillusioned about their direction and leadership.
Why Ahsoka Left the Jedi Order
Ahsoka Tano’s decision to leave the Jedi Order boiled down to several key factors that fractured her trust in them:
- Betrayal – Ahsoka felt betrayed by how quickly the Council assumed her guilt and expelled her in her darkest moment.
- Hypocrisy – She saw hypocrisy in the way the Jedi preached justice and peacekeeping but made questionable decisions in the war.
- Disillusionment – The failings of the Jedi during her ordeal shattered her faith in their wisdom and guidance.
- Independence – After thriving on her own during her trial, she realized she didn’t need the Order to dictate her life path.
Losing Trust in the Jedi Council
Above all, Ahsoka’s trust in the Jedi Council eroded after they so easily assumed her guilt. While she once saw them as infallible, their rush to judgment made her see the Council as flawed and self-interested. When Anakin exposed Barriss as the real murderer, the Council offered platitudes but no real accountability for their actions.
She refused their invitation back, seeing it as hollow after the harm they had done. Their gesture seemed more about saving face in the Order rather than a genuine amends for failing Ahsoka in her most vulnerable moment.
War Shakes Beliefs About the Jedi
The Clone Wars had also exposed doubts Ahsoka had about the Jedi Order’s direction. As she saw more hypocrisy and questionable acts from Jedi during the war, Ahsoka became conflicted about whether the Order truly practiced what it preached. Even her friend Barriss said she bombed the hangar because she saw the Jedi as losing their way in joining the war.
The Jedi preached non-violence and avoidance of the dark side. Yet here they were leading a massive army in battle. Ahsoka could no longer reconcile these contradictions.
A Path of Independence
Above all, Ahsoka realized during her trial she had the strength to walk her own path outside the Jedi. She no longer wanted the Council deciding her destiny or limiting her potential. By leaving, she could find her own way without constraints from an Order she lost faith in. The possibility of forging an independent life and identity carried more potential than remaining attached to the flawed Jedi Order.
Life After Leaving the Jedi Order
While it was a difficult decision, leaving the Jedi Order opened up new possibilities for Ahsoka Tano and her role in the galaxy. Initially adrift, she would soon play a pivotal role with other rebels in secretly forming the early rebellion against the Empire.
Serving as a Rebel Informant
After leaving the Order, Ahsoka lived in the shadows and worked with early rebel cells against imperial rule. She became a secret informant providing intelligence for Senator Bail Organa. Her inside knowledge of the Jedi and Clone Wars aided the rebels in their activities.
Working with Rebel Leaders
Ahsoka worked closely with Bail Organa and later his daughter Princess Leia Organa as a key ally. She passed valuable insights about former Republic loyalists and systems to help guide early rebellion efforts. Her knowledge helped identify sympathetic worlds and officials to recruit for the cause.
Underworld Contacts
Using underworld contacts she made after leaving the Jedi, Ahsoka became adept at recruiting smugglers, bounty hunters, and pirates to provide supplies, intelligence and services aiding rebel cells. Her underworld ties expanded the reach and resources of the early rebellion.
Helping Ensure Luke Skywalker’s Survival
At Bail Organa’s request, Ahsoka went into hiding on the remote agricultural moon of Raada. There, she helped establish contacts and routes that would one day ensure a young Luke Skywalker could be kept hidden from the Emperor. This would prove vital in Luke later becoming a new hope as a Jedi.
Duel with Darth Vader
Years after leaving the Jedi, Ahsoka had a fateful duel with her former master Anakin, now the Sith Lord Darth Vader. The duel ended with Vader seemingly killing Ahsoka, but this was yet another ruse she used to further disguise her survival from the Empire. She continued helping the rebellion while allowing Vader to believe she had perished.
Legacy
Despite walking away from the Jedi, Ahsoka Tano’s actions after leaving the Order proved pivotal in the fight against the Empire. Her inside knowledge of the Jedi and Republic proved invaluable to early rebel cells. Ahsoka laid the groundwork that enabled the later success of the rebellion and Luke Skywalker’s rise as a Jedi. Without her critical aid working quietly in the shadows, the events of the galactic civil war might have played out very differently.
Conclusion
Ahsoka Tano’s decision to leave the Jedi Order was a complex choice born out of betrayal, disillusionment, and a desire to chart her own path. The hypocrisy she witnessed surrounding Barriss Offee’s bombing plot caused her faith in the infallibility of the Jedi Council to crumble. This fractured trust, combined with doubts raised by the Clone Wars, motivated her to walk away and forge a new independent life outside the Jedi.
Despite this separation, Ahsoka’s aid to early rebellion leaders and roles after leaving the Order had far-reaching impacts. Her intelligence gathering, recruiting, and support provided essential help to the resistance. Ahsoka’s actions after parting with the Jedi played a direct role in the eventual demise of the Empire and return of the Jedi. Through her unique talents and knowledge, she found another way to fight injustice in the galaxy beyond the flawed path of the Jedi Order she left behind.
