Ahsoka Tano Had A Different Name When She Was Created
After the "Star Wars" prequel films, we could have called it a day for the franchise. Instead, we got a film and a series about a character named Ahsoka Tano (voice of Ashley Eckstein), who has become a fan favorite. So much so that she made several TV series cameos and got her own live-action Disney+ series with Rosario Dawson taking over the role. The young Togruta woman who apprenticed with Anakin Skywalker before his fall to the dark side first appeared in the animated film "The Clone Wars," which served as the beginning of the animated series of the same name.
We've watched Ahsoka begin as a brash young padawan who slowly learned the ways of the Force, and we saw her leave the Jedi order after she was blamed for something she didn't do. We saw her confront who her master became and followed her adventures through "Star Wars Rebels," "Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi," in books like 2016's "Ahsoka" by E.K. Johnston, and, of course, her own show.
One thing fans might not know is that Ahsoka had another name when she was first created that has not only been used in her lore but has a connection to the Force, according to an oral history of the character from Vanity Fair.
A Togruta by any other name ...
In the article "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," creator Dave Filoni says that George Lucas was the person who came up with the name of Ahsoka, but that wasn't her original name. Eckstein said in the same interview, "I do know that at one point they were considering the name Ashla, which is just weird since my name is Ashley." Then Filoni explained how that name came about in the first place. He said:
"We called her Ashla in the beginning. That was 2005, and that worked on several levels for me. I think it was the name given to one of the [young Jedis Yoda was training] in 'Attack of the Clones.' There was a little Togruta girl. We kicked around the idea that maybe that was Ahsoka but then we thought the age didn't really work out for it to be the same character. She was too young in the film."
You can see the prequel Ashla in the image above, but, as Filoni said, her age didn't work for Ahsoka's character. In fact, on StarWars.com, it's revealed that in early drawings of the character by Kilian Plunkett, she's actually labeled as Ashla. If the name sounds familiar to hardcore Star Wars fans, it might be because Ashla was the original name for the light side of the Force, with Bogan being the name for the dark side. Not only that, but our Ahsoka has actually used the name as an alias in the past.
Hiding in plain sight
In "Resolve," the sixth episode of the animated series "Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi," Ahsoka has gone into hiding after the fall of the Republic, calling herself Ashla and hiding on a farm on Thabeska. When her identity as a Force user is revealed by one of the villagers, she's reported to the Empire, who has the village destroyed. With the aid of Senator Bail Organa, Ahsoka joins the Rebellion, choosing to fight to free the galaxy from tyranny.
If that story sounds familiar to you, it's told in a slightly different way in the E.K. Johnston novel. In that story, she also uses the alias Ashla, working as a mechanic and pilot, hiding out from Imperial forces. Again, things go badly, and Ahsoka joins the Rebellion through Bail Organa. (Do yourself a favor and read "Ahsoka," because it's excellent.) I know it might be too on the nose, but a little part of me hopes that when the big Dave Filoni movie that ties the Disney+ series together comes out, someone nods to this on a computer screen or something. Sigh. Yeah, I'm the person the fan service was made for.
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