The Mandalorian Fans Think They've Figured Out When Ahsoka Will Make Her Season 2 Debut
The rough outline of The Mandalorian's second season is no secret to fans. The titular hero (Pedro Pascal) is searching for more of his fellow Mandalorians, who he believes can help him locate a Jedi who can tell him how to return the Child to its own kind.
It's long been rumored that the former padawan Ahsoka Tano will be appearing in season 2, portrayed by Rosario Dawson. That casting news would seem to inform an endpoint for that particular quest of Mando's. Though she left the Order before the events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Ahsoka would almost certainly have an idea of what to do with a young and powerfully Force-sensitive Child who looks just like Master Yoda. Even if her answers launched Mando and Child on a new quest, that would likely be the resolution of the current arc.
So, if audiences know where Mando is likely going, what's left to be answered is how he's going to get there, and what obstacles will arise on the way. One poster on Reddit thinks there have been enough breadcrumbs dropped so far by the show's promotional materials to determine Ahsoka's location — and that it's not her choice to be there.
How will the Mandalorian meet Ahsoka?
The clues u/Plain_Tortillas draws upon are mostly shots from the trailer, combined with what's known about Mando's current situation after Chapter 10. One shot shows Mando walking behind the Frog Lady we met in Chapter 10 on the docks of a rainy water planet. That seems to match the location where audiences see the hooded woman played by WWE wrestler Sasha Banks. Banks' appearance is tied in the trailer to the Armorer's mention, in voiceover, of the Jedi.
The post presumes this woman is playing Sabine Wren, a Mandalorian who debuted on the animated series Star Wars Rebels and who was last seen preparing to venture into the Unknown Regions with Ahsoka to search for their friend Ezra Bridger. If true, she would be the connection that links Mando's search for the Child's kind to the former Jedi, but the writer doesn't think it's going to be as easy as paying her a visit.
"So, where is Ahsoka currently?" the post says. "She's in an imperial prison and is being held captive by Moff Gideon."
Who is the Mandalorian breaking out of prison?
The writer points to a slew of shots in the trailer that seem to show Mando, Cara Dune (Gina Carano), and Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) infiltrating what appears to be an Imperial prison, then escaping it via a prison transport as scout troopers on speeder bikes give chase. This choice of getaway vehicle, the post speculates, may be forced on them by the fact that Ahsoka is frozen in carbonite, which is perhaps the only way to keep a Jedi as powerful as she has proven to be in captivity.
But others have pushed back on this theory, figuring Ahsoka is too powerful to allow herself to be captured by Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito), no matter how desperate he is to obtain Force-sensitives like her or the Child. There is a lot of speculation involved, both about the identity of the hooded woman and the nature of the prison break. Given how many of Mando's adventures have involved an exchange of services — killing the Krayt dragon for Cobb Vanth's armor, ferrying the Frog Lady for information about other Mandalorians — there could be any number of reasons for our heroic trio to be storming a prison.
What episode is likely to see Ahsoka's debut?
As for the timing of Ahsoka's appearance, another poster thinks the biggest clue to that can be found in the list of the show's writers and directors. "I like the idea but the prevailing thought seems to be that she's going to make her first appearance in the fifth episode, as that one was directed by Dave filoni," writes one poster.
Filoni, an executive producer on The Mandalorian, introduced Ahsoka in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and continued her story in Star Wars Rebels, so it makes a certain kind of sense that he would be the one to oversee her live-action debut as well. Should she show up with a further three episodes left in the season, that could be a significant escalation in the conflict between Mando's scrappy clan and the small corner of the Imperial Remnant led by Moff Gideon.
Fans waiting for answers will have to wait for new episodes of The Mandalorian debuting each Friday between now and December 18.