Every Major Star Wars Event Ahsoka's Ezra Missed
It finally happened. After "Ahsoka" embarked on a quest to find Ezra and Thrawn, we finally made it to a whole other galaxy, albeit after some detours in the World Between Worlds and a cool lightsaber fight with Anakin Skywalker.
Not only is this new galaxy awesome, with the planet Peridea looking like something straight out of "Dune," but it has some of the coolest "Star Wars" creatures in a while, such as the Noti, who look like mutant hermit turtle Ewoks. On the planet, we also see the anticipated return of Grand Admiral Thrawn, the most formidable villain in "Star Wars" at the moment, and the big baddie for Dave Filoni's Mando-verse
But it is not just Thrawn we see here, because after some searching, we're also reunited with "Star Wars Rebels" character Ezra Bridger (played by Eman Esfandi), who now looks like bearded space Jesus — or space Kwisatz Haderach, if we want to keep with the "Dune" theme. In what feels like an awkward high school reunion, Ezra is reunited with Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), eager to return home.
Whoa, not so fast, Ezra. Not only does Ezra still have to deal with Thrawn, but he has been away for quite awhile, long enough that he might not recognize the galaxy he left behind. Thankfully, we know what happened in the years Ezra has been living with hermits and pretending to be a rock, so we're running down every major "Star Wars" event Ezra needs to lean about from the decade or so that he was away.
Much to catch up with
One of the appeals of "Star Wars Rebels," compared to "The Clone Wars," was how relatively self-contained the former was, with the story staying mostly in and around Lothal and a small cast of characters. And yet, "Rebels" did intersect with a lot of different characters from across the "Star Wars" universe, with everyone from Saw Guerrera and future Rebel leader Mon Mothma, to trilogy main characters like Leia and Lando. Like Ahsoka in "The Clone Wars," Ezra was a rather well-connected kid who interacted with every major player of the Galactic Civil War and indirectly helped kickstart the conflict. Still, in the 10 years he was absent from the galaxy, a lot of things happened.
Let's start with Leia. Ezra briefly met Princess Leia Organa from Alderaan in an episode of season 2, where the two bonded as two young people involved in the Rebellion. Once Ezra gets back to the main galaxy, he might be surprised to know that not only did that young girl become a leader of the Rebel Alliance, and later a Senator of the New Republic, but also that her entire planet of Alderaan was literally blown to pieces by the Death Star. Oh, and we're gonna have to tell him what the Death Star was too, but we'll get to that in a second.
How about Leia's brother? Ezra did not know Luke Skywalker, but he did meet Obi-Wan Kenobi, who Ezra knew was guarding the secret to destroying the Sith. The knowledge that Obi-Wan died may sadden Ezra a bit, even if he didn't know him. But the bigger news is that Luke is Leia's twin brother, and that he is the son of Darth Vader — the head of the Inquisitors that constantly chased Ezra. Even more important is that Luke managed to defeat him, which would definitely surprise Ezra, especially the part about Vader shoving the Emperor down a reactor shaft and killing him. Well, almost.
They did what!?
The knowledge of the Death Star may also interest Ezra, given the Ghost Crew and Saw Guerrera almost figured out the Empire's plans. Ezra may also want to know that the superweapon killed Saw when Jedha city was destroyed. But given that it was destroyed shortly after Ezra disappeared, there are more pressing things to catch him up on.
How about the revelation that Lando Calrissian, the pirate, swindler, con man, and flirt who constantly lied and cheated the Ghost crew, is now a decorated war hero and mayor of a whole city in the clouds? Lando was one of the funniest pieces of fan service in "Rebels," as the cartoon really focused on the smuggling and swindling aspect of the character. Likewise, Ezra's other pirate friend (the poor kid only really knew soldiers and mercenaries growing up), Hondo Ohnaka, had a bit of a transformation in the years Ezra was away. During the war, Hondo went legit and created a cargo company called Ohnaka Transport Solutions, all before eventually becoming an animatronic at a theme park.
Another big piece of galactic news Ezra probably missed involves Sabine. In very sad news, all their efforts to make Mandalore rise up against the Empire failed during the Night of a Thousand Tears, when the planet was decimated by Moff Gideon, to the point where the planet was long considered uninhabitable. Now, both Ezra and Sabine are orphans.
Lastly, it would be weird not to mention to Ezra that his efforts to fight the Empire succeeded, and they have spread dramatically. The Empire was defeated — by Ewoks, no less — and replaced by the New Republic. Of course, the news might be eclipsed by the knowledge that Hera is now a general for the New Republic and also has a child! The son of Ezra's master, Kanan.
Well, we think that about covers it. We can't wait for "Ahsoka" to have an entire clip show episode catching up Ezra on all of these events. Surely that'll happen, right? Right?!
New episodes of "Ahsoka" hit Disney+ at 9pm ET/6pm PT.