Contains Ahsoka Episode 4 and Star Wars: Rebels spoilers
Well, here we are. Midway into the season of Ahsoka, the latest series in Star Wars’ Mando-verse, the show has so far been largely accessible to fans who aren’t deeply versed in the Dave Filoni-assisted animated series, The Clone Wars and Rebels. Sure, some prior knowledge of Sabine Wren and Hera Syndulla comes in handy, and the previous antics of cantankerous droid Chopper are more than worth checking out when you get the chance. But for the most part, it’s been easy to follow. Until now. At the end of Episode 4 – titled ‘Fallen Jedi’ – there comes not only a major cameo, but a live-action appearance of a mysterious bit of lore that requires some unpicking and unpacking from the final season of Rebels.
But worry not – Empire is on hand (not that Empire, don’t worry) to guide you into the Force’s most mysterious realm. So, buckle up, and prepare for SPOILERS AHEAD pertaining not only to Ahsoka Episode 4, but the final season of Rebels too.
Still here? Then let’s talk about the World Between Worlds…
What is the World Between Worlds?
Well, it’s in the name. The World Between Worlds is the place that Ahsoka has somehow ended up at the end of Ahsoka’s fourth episode – a physical place, but also a metaphysical plane. It’s almost a manifestation of the Force itself – a place where, across an infinite landscape of bridges and walkways, everything everywhere is playing out, all at once. (Bagels not provided.) And it’s all linked through the Force, echoing with voices and actions we’ve seen play out across the Skywalker Saga. As Obi-Wan once said of the Force: “It surrounds us, it penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together.” The World Between Worlds, then, is… well, a world between worlds, a place outside of space and time, where everything and everyone is connected, where the Force moves in mysterious ways, and where unexpected actions of heroism take place.
What happens in the World Between Worlds in Rebels?
It’s a big question – with a big answer, likely itself to raise even further questions. Because, one of the reasons why fans have been obsessed with the World Between Worlds ever since it debuted towards the end of Rebels’ final season (in an episode titled ‘A World Between Worlds’) is that it is kept largely mysterious – one of the great unexplained ambiguities of the Force, whose many meanings and interpretations transcend our simple human understanding.
But, we’ll try anyway. Rebels’ young Jedi hero Ezra Bridger finds himself entering the World Between Worlds in a very specific set of circumstances. In a Jedi temple on his home planet of Lothal is a mural, the inscriptions on which include runes of Loth-wolves – giant wolf creatures native to the planet, who are strongly connected to the Force and who use their affinity with it to travel great distances. With his Force powers, Ezra activates the Loth-wolf inscriptions in the temple, and they create a portal – and when he enters, he finds himself in the World Between Worlds. In there, he sees a great expanse of walkways in an inky-black cavern, and hears echoing voices of Star Wars characters from across the entire saga – Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, Ahsoka Tano, Rey, Kylo Ren, Anakin Skywalker, Padme Amidala, Jyn Erso, Kanan Jarrus, Maz Kanata, Princess Leia, Darth Vader and more.
And that’s not all. Inside the World Between Worlds, Ezra witnesses moments of Star Wars history playing out in portals – most importantly, the dramatic Ahsoka-vs-Darth Vader duel that ends Rebels Season 2, of which the outcome had remained unclear in the intervening time. Witnessing Vader preparing to kill his former Padawan, Ezra reaches through the portal and saves Ahsoka – pulling her out of the battle, and into the World Between Worlds.
Together, the duo take a stroll down the strange walkways – and along the way, they also encounter a portal through which they witness Ezra’s fallen master Kanan Jarrus making a brave sacrifice to save the Ghost crew (which happened just a few episodes previously). While the grieving Ezra wants to save Kanan, like he just saved Ahsoka, she points out that he can’t – or, shouldn’t. Since Kanan made a purposeful sacrifice to allow his friends to live, the attachment-free Jedi path indicates that Ezra should allow that action to play out as history – and, more importantly, as Kanan – intended, to which Ezra ultimately agrees. And it’s not just our heroes who are witnessed in the World Between Worlds – on their walk, Ezra and Ahsoka are attacked through another portal by Emperor Palpatine, likely probing the deep mysteries of the Force in an attempt to ensure his own immortality.
At the end of their wanderings, Ezra and Ahsoka leave the World Between Worlds through separate portals, each rejoining their own individual paths.
What does the World Between Worlds mean in Ahsoka?
The big question: the World Between Worlds is back, but to what end? Ahsoka’s return to Star Wars’ most mystical and mystifying realm comes after she’s forced off a cliff edge while battling Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) on Seatos – tumbling off the map platform, and landing not in the raging sea, but tumbling onto a walkway in the World Between Worlds. And, crucially, standing behind her is her old master, Anakin Skywalker – played once again by a returning Hayden Christensen – in his Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith garb, clearly in happier times before his turn to the Dark Side. Since entering the World Between Worlds doesn’t exactly happen by accident, and Ahsoka didn’t seem to intentionally take herself there, that leaves one theoretical explanation: did Anakin Skywalker save his former Padawan by pulling her out of battle, just as Ezra did when Ahsoka fought Vader? That’s certainly how it seems.
So, these are the answers we’re looking for: why was Anakin poking around in the World Between Worlds? How did he get there? What will he have to say to his former apprentice? Will Ahsoka reveal to Anakin what soon becomes of him? And where (and when) will they each exit to?
What has Dave Filoni said about the World Between Worlds?
You don’t have to look that hard on the internet to find Dave Filoni discussing what the World Between Worlds means to him, and what it means to Star Wars. Crucially, he says, it’s not the galaxy’s answer to time-travel, even if it does connect every era of the story together. Rather than a linear timeline, it’s envisaged as a looping, fluid place where all things occur, and where characters experience moments particularly attuned to their own experience. “I don’t know how real it actually is. I don’t want to define that for people anyway,” he says. “But it’s not this place of gateways and doorways that you just go in and out of.” The real answers, he says, are more metaphysical. “It’s more like what the wolf tells Ezra – it’s more about knowledge,” Filoni explains. “Knowledge that you can use for your benefit of good, or knowledge that will lead to destruction. That’s what it’s about.”
So, expect Ahsoka’s time in the World Between Worlds in Ahsoka Episode 5 to be distinct from Ezra’s – an interaction, a sharing of knowledge, a meeting of minds between Ahsoka and Anakin that informs her journey going forward, and perhaps gives some closure to their tumultuous time together. It’s going to explosive. And ethereal. Explosively ethereal? If anyone can achieve that balance, it’s Filoni.
Can we watch the next episode of Ahsoka yet?
Sadly not. But if you find a way into the World Between Worlds so we can watch it early, just let us know.
Ahsoka is streaming now on Disney+