Ahsoka Tano's Most Embarrassing Mistakes In Clone Wars
These days, Ahsoka Tano is one of the "Star Wars" franchise's most beloved characters, so much so that she even earned her own self-titled television series on Disney+, but she wasn't always the calm, level-headed former Jedi that fans have come to know. When she was introduced in theaters in 2008's "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" animated film, she showed an immaturity that continued well into the subsequent animated series of the same name.
This immaturity led to a number of teachable moments throughout "The Clone Wars," especially in its first few seasons, but Ahsoka demonstrated her strength of character by allowing herself to be humbled by and learn from those mistakes and, over time, become the character that viewers love today. Whether they're the result of greatly overvaluing her skills in battle or making arrogant assumptions, these are Ahsoka Tano's most embarrassing mistakes in "Clone Wars."
Her first outfit
Of all her mistakes, this one has likely aged the most poorly. Consisting of little more than a miniscule tube top, a miniskirt, and white tights, the outfit that Ahsoka Tano wore during her first appearance in the film and throughout the first few seasons of "The Clone Wars" is one that many fans wish had never appeared at all.
When she first walks off the shuttle in the film, Ahsoka is only 14 years old. She's still practically a child, and the filmmakers chose to put her in one of the most sexualized costumes in the series. It was a horrible decision, and one that's made even worse by the fact that while all of her male, adult counterparts are both fully clothed and heavily armored, she's wading into a literal war nearly half-naked. In the end, this is far less Ahsoka's mistake than it is the mistake of the Jedi Masters who allowed it and of the filmmakers that had her wear it.
She interrupted the Supreme Councilor and the Jedi High Council
Ahsoka was brash, impatient, and arrogant when she first became Anakin's Padawan, and she made all three of those attributes perfectly clear in "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." In Season 1, Episode 2, "Rising Malevolence," she decided to interrupt not just Jedi Master Mace Windu but the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic and Jedi Grand Master as well.
During a holomeeting aboard their flag ship, the Jedi Council decide not to send any ships chasing after the survivors of a mysteriously destroyed Republic cruiser. Ahsoka is incensed by this and blatantly speaks out of turn to the three highest-ranking members of the Republic at once, telling them that they need to send ships to search for survivors. Though her heart was in the right place, her tact was not, especially since her master was preparing to do exactly that anyway.
She trusted a droid who tried to kill her
When R2-D2 was briefly lost in space, Anakin and Ahsoka received a replacement droid named R3-S6 in Season 1, Episode 6, "Downfall of a Droid," which the Padawan nicknamed "Goldie." Anakin, pained over the loss of his loyal friend R2, refused to accept the droid and heaped a sizeable amount of verbal abuse on the robot, especially as it made mistake after mistake that endangered the pair's lives.
Ahsoka, however, felt sorry for the poor droid, defended it, and tried to convince her master to accept it. Unfortunately for Ahsoka, Anakin was right not to trust the droid, as it was secretly a traitor and a spy sent by General Grievous to relay Republic military secrets and try to sabotage the Jedi at every turn. Thankfully, the master and apprentice found R2-D2 and rescued him, giving the faithful bot a chance to destroy "Goldie" once and for all in Episode 7, "Duel of the Droids."
She thought she could beat General Grievous
Trusting "Goldie" wasn't the only mistake that Ahsoka made during those episodes. In Episode 7, "Duel of the Droids," the second part of the story, Ahsoka arrogantly overestimates her own combat skills and decides to engage the infamous Jedi-killer General Grievous in battle.
The two combatants meet while Ahsoka, Captain Rex, and their squad of clone soldiers work to sabotage a key Separatist listening post, and because the Padawan underestimates her opponent and decides to engage, most of her soldiers are killed. Ahsoka barely manages to keep General Grievous from killing Clone Captain Rex and is quickly defeated afterwards.
Grievous literally has her by the throat, and the only reason she survives is because an opportune explosion creates the perfect chance for her to escape while simultaneously giving Grievous something more important to attend to. Unfortunately for Ahsoka, this would not be the last time she would make these very same mistakes.
Eventually, an older and wiser Ahsoka finds herself face to face with General Grievous once again in Season 5, Episode 9, "A Necessary Bond," as she attempts to protect a group of Jedi Younglings. This time, however, Ahsoka doesn't care about proving herself in combat and only engages Grievous long enough for the younglings to escape and no more — staying true to her real mission, keeping others safe.
She threatened to torture a political prisoner
After Padmé Amidala and Jar Jar Binks manage to capture an important Separatist leader named Nute Gunray in "Bombad Jedi," Ahsoka attempts to help Jedi Master Luminara Unduli interrogate their prisoner. It does not go well.
In Season 1, Episode 9, "Cloak of Darkness," shortly after being counseled by Luminara to check her overconfidence, Ahsoka loses her patience with the Neimoidian and decides to hold her lightsaber up to his throat and threaten his life unless he tells them what they want to know. To say that this is not the Jedi way is a bit of an understatement, and to say that Luminara is appalled by this decision is putting it nicely.
Unfortunately for Ahsoka's growth, her tactic seems to work, and she fails to learn her lesson. Though it's not clear why Tano is travelling with Unduli instead of her own master, this decision left a lasting impression on the Jedi that would color their future interactions.
She thought she could beat Asajj Ventress
This would not be Ahsoka Tano's last mistake in "Cloak of Darkness." Finding themselves under attack by a small army of droids seeking to rescue Nute Gunray, Jedi Master Luminara Unduli leaves Ahsoka to guard their prisoner while she leaves to repel their boarders, and it's here that the Sith Assassin Asajj Ventress finds her.
Once again overestimating her skills while underestimating her opponents, Ahsoka decides to engage Ventress alone. During the short duel, Asajj manages to kill two Senate Commandos, free Nute Gunray, and trap Ahsoka in the same cage they were using to hold Neimoidian. Thankfully, Master Luminara arrives shortly thereafter to free Ahsoka, but the damage is done, the ship is destroyed, and both Asajj Ventress and Nate Gunray escape.
Ahsoka does manage to save Luminara's life during the battle at least, but it's unclear how many of Ahsoka's rash decisions during the episode made up for that in Luminara's eyes.
She got most of her first Squadron killed
While attempting to free the Twi'lek home world during Season 1, Episode 19, "Storm Over Ryloth," Anakin allows his Padawan to lead her own starfighter squadron for the very first time. She's nervous, but with some encouragement from her master, she believes that she can do it. She is wrong.
The plan is for Anakin and his fleet to punch a hole through the Separatist blockade surrounding the planet and allow Obi-Wan Kenobi and Mace Windu to land their forces on the ground. The space battle begins well enough as Ahsoka successfully leads her battle against the droid starfighters, but when additional Separatist cruisers join the battle, Anakin and Admiral Yularen order Ahsoka to pull back and retreat to their capital ship so they can reorganize their assault against the increased fleet.
Overconfident in her abilities, Ahsoka believes that she can still breach the blockade, but because she doesn't pull back when ordered, most of her squadron is killed, Admiral Yularen is severely injured, one of their ships is destroyed, and the bridge of their capital ship is damaged.
Ahsoka is devastated by these consequences — and learns from them. She helps break the blockade on the second attempt, and from this point on, she takes her responsibility to her soldiers seriously and treasures their lives above their own, a fact that plays a large role in the show's final four episodes.
She disobeyed orders and got grounded
Locked in a losing battle on Felucia in the opening episode of Season 2, "Holocron Heist," Ahsoka Tano once again disobeys orders and refuses to retreat when she is ordered to. Lacking a clear view of the battlefield, she thinks that she has the droids on the run and doesn't believe Anakin when he says she's about to be overwhelmed.
Though her soldiers largely escape alongside her, her disobedience once again places others at unnecessary risk and almost keeps them all from escaping the planet alive. This mistake proves to be one of her most severely embarrassing, as it results in her being reprimanded, disciplined, and chastised by the Jedi High Council itself. Not only had she been arrogant, but her arrogance was on full display for every Jedi Master to see.
The council chooses to essentially "ground" Ahsoka on Coruscant, making her take a break from the battlefield and reflect on her actions while guarding the Jedi holocrons. The punishment doesn't quite have the desired effect, unfortunately, as this ultimately coincides with Cad Bane's successful attempt to steal a holocron from the Jedi vault, launching Ahsoka right back into the battlefield.
She thought she could beat Cad Bane
Ahsoka Tano makes it clear that she still hasn't learned her lesson in Season 2, Episode 2, "Cargo of Doom." After Cad Bane breaks into the Jedi Temple Vault, he steals a holocron that contains a list of every registered infant in the galaxy who has the potential to become a Jedi.
Bane flees the planet and joins up with a quartet of Separatist frigates with Anakin Skywalker in hot pursuit alongside his Padawan and his 501st Clone Legion. They manage to destroy three of the ships, disable the cruiser carrying Bane, and board it. After a brief firefight, Bane seems to get away, prompting Ahsoka to run after him alone without waiting for Anakin and allowing Bane to separate the two.
Once again overconfident and impatient, Ahsoka is certain she can defeat a "mere bounty hunter," but is quickly knocked out by Bane after he feigns defeat. This allows Bane to force Anakin to open the holocron in exchange for Ahsoka's life. Thus Cad Bane wins, and Ahsoka proves the proverb that opened the episode: "Overconfidence is the most dangerous form of carelessness."
She lost her lightsaber on Coruscant
Ahsoka finally finishes learning her lesson after a short adventure with an old Jedi Master named Tera Sinube. The man is quite old, but wise and filled with decades of knowledge and experience, and when Ahsoka accidentally loses her lightsaber to a pickpocket while on a mission with Anakin in Coruscant's underworld, he is exactly what she needs, though it takes her awhile to figure it out.
Ahsoka asks Sinube for help at the suggestion of the Jedi Librarian Jocasta Nu, and the master quickly identifies the thief that stole her lightsaber. Not quite grasping how impressive that is, Ahsoka tries to hurry off to hunt the thief down, but Sinube stops her and gives her the advice she's needed for the entire show: "If you don't slow down, you're not going to find what you're looking for."
Throughout the rest of the episode, Ahsoka is constantly rushing off and charging in while Sinube takes his time and plans out each move, and every time, Sinube manages to get to their next objective or discover the next clue before Ahsoka. By the time they finally manage to recover Ahsoka's saber, she's finally learned the value of patience and serenity from the aged master, and as she practices these virtues throughout the rest of the show, she slowly learns humility and competence as well.
Her first attempt to use two lightsabers had a rough start
Ahsoka doesn't mature overnight, however, and she still manages to get flustered every now and again.
At some point during Season 3, the cast of "The Clone Wars" all change their costumes to show that time has passed, and Ahsoka begins to look older, as she is around the age of 16 when she begins wearing her second standard outfit. With age comes experience, and Ahsoka begins using an additional shoto-style lightsaber alongside her original blade. By the time she has them in the show she wields them quite well, but the series of animated shorts called "Forces of Destiny" shows us that this didn't happen overnight.
Season 1, Episode 10, "Teach You, I Will," begins in a Jedi Training Dojo on Coruscant as Anakin attempts to teach Ahsoka how to fight with both blades at once. The Padawan keeps forgetting to do so in the heat of their duel and is consistently beaten because of it. Yoda checks in on the two and asks to see Ahsoka's progress for himself.
She embarrasses herself for the first time by igniting her blade before she bows in accordance with tradition. She embarrasses herself a second time by forgetting her second blade and losing once again. Yoda encourages Ahsoka to incorporate her existing fighting style and adapt that to two blades rather than adopting something completely new, and this helps the concept finally "click" for the young Padawan.
She developed a crush on Lux Bonteri
After learning from Tera Sinube and Master Yoda, Ahsoka turned a corner, and though she still struggled to master the Jedi way, she matured rapidly for several seasons before she made her next embarrassing mistake: developing a crush on a Separatist senator's son named Lux Bonteri. The two teenagers first meet in Season 3, Episode 10, "Heroes on Both Sides," when Padmé takes Ahsoka to meet with Lux's mother Mina to try to end the war peacefully.
While the senators confer, Lux and Ahsoka become friends, exposing each of them to the hopes and dreams of their "enemy" for the first time and helping them see that the war is more complicated than it seems. They wouldn't meet again until Season 4, Episode 14, "A Friend in Need," after Lux's mother had been killed.
The young separatist is convinced, and rightfully so, that Count Dooku is behind her murder and attempts to enlist the aid of the Mandalorian Death Watch in exacting his revenge. Ahsoka, knowing that Lux is in over his head, joins him to keep him out of trouble.
When they meet with Death Watch, Ahsoka pretends to be Lux's fiancée to hide that she's a Jedi. This deception leads to the pair's first kiss, and though Ahsoka ultimately saves Lux from the mercenaries, they're forced to part ways again, though this time Ahsoka is left with feelings she doesn't know what to do with.
She failed to save Saw Gerrera's sister
Ahsoka's crush on Lux takes a back seat until Season 5, Episode 2, "A War on Two Fronts," when Ahsoka meets Lux one last time on his home planet Onderon. Unable to lend proper military aid to the beleaguered system in their struggle against a Separatist occupation, the Jedi Council chooses to send Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka, and Captain Rex to train and equip their budding rebellion.
When they arrive, they meet with Lux Bonteri and the other two rebel leaders, the siblings Steela and Saw Gerrera. To the Padawan's chagrin, Lux and Steela are in a relationship, which leads to a large amount of awkwardness and a small amount of interpersonal conflict as they attempt to free the planet.
By Episode 5, "Tipping Points," Ahsoka has come to terms with her feelings, let them go, and become good friends with Steela. Additionally, the rebels have managed to retake the planet's capital city, Iziz, and free their deposed king. They have the droid army completely on the run when a last-ditch effort to kill their king on the way out sends Steela over the edge of a cliff. Ahsoka catches her with the force, but a stray blaster bolt hits the Padawan in the shoulder, forcing her to let go and allow Steela to fall to her death.
This failure haunts Ahsoka and directly leads to Saw Gerrera's increasingly radical rebellions against the Separatists and later the Empire.
She failed to see Barriss Offee fall
Though Ahsoka failed to impress Jedi Master Luminara Unduli in Season 1, she quickly became close friends with Luminara's apprentice, Barriss Offee, despite their differences. Barriss was meticulous and calculating where Ahsoka typically improvised and often rushed in, especially in the early days of their friendship. Like Anakin and Obi-Wan before them, though, the two made a great team on many occasions, and their different natures helped them both find balance.
As the war raged on, however, the pair lost touch, and Barriss Offee began to lose her faith in the Jedi. She came to believe that the Jedi had lost their way, abandoned the peacekeeping role they were meant to serve, and were becoming the very evil they sought to stop. Barriss' anger led her to hate the Jedi Order, and this hatred ultimately led her to the Dark Side.
And Ahsoka noticed none of it. She lost track of her former friend and failed to see her change or help her deal with her growing anger. If she had, she might have been able to keep Barriss from framing Ahsoka for a bombing of the Jedi Temple in Season 5, Episode 17, "Sabotage," which led to Ahsoka's exile and military trial in the rest of Season 5's final arc. Though Anakin ultimately discovered Barriss' plot, the events were enough to destroy Ahsoka's faith in the Jedi Order and its masters, and when they invited her to rejoin the order, she refused.