The full story of the Star Wars saga depends on all of its storylines unfolding exactly as they do. With so many tangled character arcs and plotlines, any deviation from the choices that characters make could result in an entirely different galaxy far, far away. An interesting domino effect can be found in Ahsoka Tano's own story: what if she had never left the Jedi Order, instead remaining a Padawan and possibly becoming a knight through the Clone Wars?
When Barriss Offee, a Jedi Knight and friend of Ahsoka's, bombed the Jedi Temple and framed Ahsoka for the crime, the Padawan was forced to go on the run to clear her name. After Anakin was able to help prove her innocence, she made the informed decision to leave the Order forever, cementing her own path forward. As a civilian, Ahsoka not only gained a new perspective on life outside the Order, but she was able to more clearly see how far the public perception of the Jedi had fallen.
While living a life outside of the Jedi Order for the first time, Ahsoka met up with the Martez sisters in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. As the Clone Wars had been raging on, she learned for the first time that the Jedi were not necessarily seen as the heroes she had always known. The sisters had lost their own parents in a hostage situation, with the Jedi escalating the incident and also being unable to see that loss as anything other than an acceptable casualty. Seeing this new perspective for the first time not only broadened Ahsoka's mind to outside opinions but also enabled her to start thinking less like a Jedi, a skill that came to be her saving grace. For all their virtues, the dogmatic mindset of the Order was partly what led them straight into their own downfall.
While befriending and working with the Martez sisters, Ahsoka also learned new skills and ideas. No longer living an objectively sheltered life, she gained street smarts and a new ability to think outside of the box for solutions that may not have been traditionally sanctioned by the Council. With her quick thinking skills came an even further enhanced empathy, which ended up saving her many times. When she eventually returned to fight alongside the Jedi and the clones in the last battle of the Clone Wars, her streetwise cunning and her compassion allowed Ahsoka to not only escape with her life but recognize that something was amiss with the clones.
If Ahsoka had never left the Order, she might not have had the right mindset and likely would have been killed, either by her own clones at the moment their inhibitor chips activated or even perhaps by Anakin's own hand, as she wouldn't have gained the perspective away from the Jedi to prepare her. Yes, Palpatine still would have executed Order 66, only Ahsoka might not have been meaningfully fighting alongside Rex and the rest of the 501st when this happened. She probably would have died and Rex's chip would not be removed. By leaving the Jedi Order, not only did Ahsoka's story get to continue, but she was able to save Rex and help sow the very first seeds of the Rebellion.
Ahsoka not leaving the Jedi also might have influenced Anakin's own storyline. If she had accepted the Jedi's offer to rejoin their ranks after her former master cleared her name, she would have finished her training under Anakin and continued to fight by his side. If Anakin had not experienced the compounding loss of Ahsoka leaving him on top of losing his mother and fear of losing Padmé, he would've had one more steady influence in his life to keep him on the Light Side. But even then, would he have been less receptive to Palpatine's influence? Though not losing Ahsoka would have been one less push to the Dark Side for Anakin, it probably would not have stopped him from becoming Darth Vader. Likely, he still would have fallen, but it might have happened a little differently.
Ahsoka's decision would've also affected Star Wars Rebels and the rumored plot of the upcoming live-action Ahsoka show. It was only because of Ahsoka (as Fulcrum) that the crew of the Ghost joined up with the Rebellion officially and it was only because Ahsoka met Ezra during the rise of the Empire that she even survived to that point in the first place, thanks to some time-bending storytelling. In Rebels Season 2, Episode 21, "Twilight of the Apprentice," Ahsoka finally came face to face with Darth Vader on Malachor and recognized him as Anakin. He had already become so twisted with the Dark Side, though, that, as Ezra and Kanan were forced to leave, it looked as though Vader was about to strike a death blow against his former Padawan.
However, in Season 4, Episode 13, "A World Between Worlds," Ezra entered the mystical realm that exists between space and time and ended up plucking Ahsoka from that fight on Malachor, saving her and ensuring her future. Rebels later ended with Ezra still unreturned from wherever he and Grand Admiral Thrawn ended up and with Ahsoka showing up one day to take Sabine to search for the lost Jedi. Ezra might've stayed forever lost in the future if he never knew Ahsoka, and he wouldn't have saved her from that face-off with Vader since that also might never have happened if Ahsoka had remained a Jedi.
There are still so many other long-term questions that Ahsoka's post-Jedi path has yet to answer. She was the one to inform Din Djarin of Grogu's history and importance in Star Wars: The Mandalorian, ensuring Grogu was set on the right path. Whatever role Grogu has yet to play in the First Order era may not have happened had Ahsoka not left the Jedi and survived Order 66, allowing her to meet with Grogu. As the future of the Star Wars galaxy continues to unfold, the full extent of Ahsoka's influence has yet to be revealed. But whatever is coming next, we might never have seen it if Ahsoka had not left the Order.
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