Star Wars Theory: We May Know Where Ahsoka Is Going At The End Of Episode 5
Contains spoilers for "Ahsoka" Episode 5 — "Part Five: Shadow Warrior"
"Ahsoka" Episode 5 is quite the journey, and it ends with the beginning of an even bigger one. After being knocked into the sea by Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) at the end of Episode 4, Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) finds herself in a mysterious Force realm where she comes face-to-face with her old master, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen). As Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) searches the planet Seatos for her, Ahsoka revisits her tragic life story through a series of Clone Wars flashbacks.
Anakin pushes her, even attacking her outright, but it seems that his aggression is all a kind of game — a way to push his old padawan to find some peace within herself. Ahsoka awakens from the ordeal with a powerful aura of serenity. She then quickly divines a way to pursue Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto), Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), and the others, even without the map. Seatos is home to a herd of purrgil — giant space whales that can travel through hyperspace, and which took Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi) and Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) away in "Star Wars Rebels."
At the end of "Ahsoka" Episode 5, the eponymous Jedi manages to convince a purrgil through the Force to allow her and Huyang (David Tennant) to dock their ship in its mouth. Tucked away inside, they set off through hyperspace, and we already have some clues as to where they might be going.
The purrgil will take Ahsoka beyond the Unknown Regions
As Ahsoka herself acknowledges to Huyang, she has no idea whether or not the purrgil will actually take them to Sabine, Ezra, and Thrawn. Because there are only three episodes left, the writers don't have much time to play around in other places, but journeying through hyperspace — especially when you're going to an entirely different galaxy — isn't as simple as hopping from point A to point B.
Prior to "Ahsoka," many believed that Thrawn was simply hiding in some far corner of the Unknown Regions, an uncharted sector of the existing "Star Wars" galaxy. The ancient Sith planet of Exegol, where Emperor Palpatine resurrects himself and rebuilds his army, is in the Unknown Regions, along with much of the Imperial Remnant. If Ahsoka has to travel through that region of space on the way to the new galaxy where Thrawn is, we could get a glimpse of what's been going on there. "The Mandalorian" Season 3 already established that the "Shadow Council" of the Imperial Remnant is waiting for Thrawn's return, hiding in the Unknown Regions while he's found and brought back.
The Unknown Regions have barely been explored in canonical "Star Wars" stories, which is fitting given that they remain uncharted in-universe. We know that Thrawn's species, the Chiss, also hails from the area, and that it's quite different from most known sectors of the galaxy. Going beyond the Unknown Regions to a whole new galaxy is a massive jump, and it opens up a lot of exciting opportunities.
What we know about other galaxies in Star Wars
In canon, "Ahsoka" is the first major "Star Wars" story to voyage beyond the primary galaxy. However, the old Legends timeline, aka the Expanded Universe, did establish some details of what lies beyond the Outer Rim. Most famously, the Yuuzhan Vong came from a neighboring galaxy to invade the one we all know and love. The brutal race of Force-less conquerors swarm the galaxy in the New Jedi Order series in the old EU, laying waste to beloved characters and entire planets.
The Yuuzhan Vong were divisive at the time because they felt like such an intense departure from the usual tone and style of "Star Wars." It's unlikely that Disney would introduce anything quite so shocking in the new galaxy where Ahsoka's going, but the EU does provide a glimpse of what could be possible in a new galaxy. Does the Force work the same there? Does it work at all? What's the technology level? How come no one ever made the journey before? These are the kinds of questions "Ahsoka" will hopefully answer in its final three episodes.
It's also worth noting that the canon "Star Wars" timeline features a race similar to the Yuuzhan Vong called the Grysk. They're not quite as horrifying or dangerous, and they live in the Unknown Regions, not a separate galaxy, but they mainly feature in Timothy Zahn's canon Thrawn novels. There's a definite possibility that Thrawn's presence in "Ahsoka" could lead to a new version of the Yuuzhan Vong storyline with the Grysk.
Why Star Wars expanding beyond the main galaxy is so exciting
Like Luke Skywalker in the early days of his Jedi training, "Star Wars" is taking its first step into a larger world with "Ahsoka." In all likelihood, the new galaxy will resemble the old. There will be planets, aliens, starships, and space magic. But it's still a border that the series has yet to cross in canon, and it opens up even more possibilities of what could happen in the years to come.
Disney can't stay in the Skywalker Saga forever. Eventually, new stories will have to be told that are completely divorced from the existing "Star Wars" fiction. That's how you bring in new fans and keep the story going for younger generations. Because there's already so much biodiversity in the main "Star Wars" galaxy, a new one might not sound like a huge deal. But that's a galaxy with no Jedi; with no Sith, Republic, or Empire. It's a huge pool of possibilities waiting to be tapped.
As the "Star Wars" universe widens, some fans may even hope for old Legends stories to be brought back into the canon — either through reboots, as has happened with Thrawn himself, or an actual multiverse that ties old and new "Star Wars" together. The latter is probably too abstract and meta for Disney to consider, but that doesn't make it impossible, especially when the World Between Worlds — which connects all of time and space — is involved. Ahsoka's journey into the great beyond at the end of Episode 5 could be the start of big new things for "Star Wars."