Ahsoka Star Rosario Dawson Confirms One Huge Change To Anakin Skywalker's Return
The overall response to "Ahsoka" has been somewhat mixed, but one thing most Star Wars fans can agree on is that Hayden Christensen is great in it. The star of the prequel trilogy reprises his role as Anakin Skywalker in a handful of pivotal scenes — most of which come in Episode 5, "Shadow Warrior."
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, series star Rosario Dawson discussed Christensen's return and how some of Anakin's scenes were tweaked during the show's development. In particular, she mentioned that Dave Filoni originally planned for Anakin to contact Ahsoka as a Force ghost — a plan that was later changed. "That moment with him coming out of the World Between Worlds was so significant, so it didn't make sense to necessarily have like another dialogue scene with him," Dawson said. "So we transformed that." Instead, Filoni used a hologram message Anakin recorded for Ahsoka during the Clone Wars, which itself evokes a similar hologram depicted in "Star Wars Rebels."
"It also makes that moment in the World Between Worlds more ephemeral," Dawson said. "Like, 'What was that?' 'Is she just dreaming?' 'Is she really talking to herself?' It's nice to keep that as a question mark." The show refrains from concretely explaining the ethereal scenes in "Shadow Warrior," which helps maintain the mystery of the Force. While some fans may have preferred to see Anakin and Ahsoka speak more explicitly, the decision to keep their interactions somewhat mystical is probably for the best.
Anakin's mysterious return helps avoid a Star Wars plot hole
Anakin returning in "Ahsoka" was always going to be a tricky proposition. It's great to see Hayden Christensen get a shot at some new material (which he pulls off quite well), and for fans of the "Clone Wars" animated series, seeing him in Anakin's war armor is especially cool. But too much of the elder Skywalker could have brought questions concerning the Star Wars sequel trilogy.
As far as we know, Anakin never reveals himself as a Force ghost to Kylo Ren — an act that could have potentially prevented a galaxy's worth of harm. In canon, he's also hardly ever spoken or even shown himself through the Force to either of his children. If Anakin were to keep popping up to Ahsoka, it would create a weird imbalance between his relationship with her and the one he has with his own family. Therefore, it's probably best that he only speaks to her in "Ahsoka" through holograms and the World Between Worlds.
As Rosario Dawson told Entertainment Weekly, the direction in which "Ahsoka" ultimately went leaves a lot more open room for interpretation. It's impossible to say for certain which things in the World Between Worlds were Anakin's work, and which were her conjured strictly from her own subconscious. All we know for sure is that at the end of the season, we see Anakin's real Force ghost watching over her with care, just as he does with Luke and Leia at the end of "Return of the Jedi."