Anakin's Ahsoka return is Star Wars fan service done right

So, it finally happened. After months – and years – of speculation, Hayden Christensen has donned the robes of Anakin and stood across from his one-time Padawan Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) in live-action for the very first time. It’s been a long time coming and, like the galactic map that leads to Thrawn and Ezra, offers up its own path to uncharted territory – one where Star Wars doesn’t always have to take a traditional look back to move forward.

In truth, Hayden Christensen’s first comeback in Obi-Wan Kenobi  – after 17 years, no less – felt more like an act of redemption for the previously much-maligned actor and less like a significant step forward in understanding Anakin’s motivations in those lost years between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.

But where Obi-Wan leaned on nostalgia, the one-time chosen one’s sudden arrival in the World Between Worlds (something more sinister is afoot, no doubt) is done in service to both Anakin and Ahsoka without feeling like a cheap nod or a low-hanging Easter egg.

Sure, the parallels to The Clone Wars exist (Dave Filoni even mirrors a shot from the animated series), but it mostly does away with the it’s-like-poetry-it-rhymes storytelling that can often make Star Wars’ biggest plot beats feel superfluous and predictable.

Here, their reunion will fill in a necessary gap in both their stories. How did Ahsoka feel about losing her master? And what contrition, if any, will this spectral, younger apparition of Anakin have? Whatever the answers, it’s not a pandering look back to the past but, instead, promises something that can both inform previous relationships and evolve each of their characters.

You only have to look at other Star Wars returns and acts of fan service to see how strong Ahsoka and Anakin’s meeting is shaping up to be compared to what’s come before.

The chosen one

A galaxy far, far away is littered with such instances: Darth Maul’s cameo in Solo; Chewbacca getting a medal decades too late in The Rise of Skywalker; the origins of Han Solo’s name (and the Millennium Falcon), and C-3PO being shoehorned into Rogue One all felt like answers to a question no one was asking. Even The Mandalorian crashing into the side of The Book of Boba Fett was Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni being unable to temper their excitement at saying ‘Hey, look at this thing’ without realizing what it would do to the story – and fans’ expectations.

Star Wars’ current brightest light, Andor, revels in sidestepping fan service. Indeed, its only real on-the-nose Easter egg was the construction of the Death Star and even then it was a bitterly cruel punchline to the Narkina 5 prison arc, an infinitesimally small piece in a grander puzzle. The takeaway is obvious: be more Andor, be more Ahsoka, and be less 'Somehow, the Emperor returned.'

Of course, any sort of hype for Anakin and Ahsoka could come crashing down by next week, such is the peril of episodic television. But, for now, the Disney Plus series offers a new, exciting way to revisit old favorites. The World Between Worlds – a mystical plane that encompasses all of time while simultaneously also offering paths to the past and future – can, in the right hands, be an intriguing tool to (literally) bring those previously thought into the present-day without resorting to flashbacks and Force Ghosts that have to contort around their roles in prequels and other trilogies.

Like with Ahsoka and Anakin, however, it shouldn’t be overused. Instead, fleeting glimpses can be sprinkled in as a way to help us better understand the universe, as well as  overcoming Star Wars’ neverending balancing act between nostalgia and newness. We can but hope, anyway.

What next for Snips and Skyguy? We don’t know – and that’s exciting, right? Whatever follows, fans can rest assured that Ahsoka overcoming her demons should act as the next step on her journey, not a crowd-pleasing device designed to act as Star Wars’ version of Memberberries.

For more on Ahsoka, check out our guides on:

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• The purrgil explained

• Everything you need to know about Star Wars Rebels

• The Ahsoka end-credits clues explained

• The Nightsisters of Dathomir explained

• Who is Clancy Brown playing in Ahsoka?

• Huyang explained

• Who is Inquisitor Marrok in Ahsoka?

• Where have we seen Morgan Elsbeth before?

• What to watch before Ahsoka

• How to watch Star Wars: The Clone Wars in order

• The Ahsoka timeline explained

• The Ahsoka release schedule