Ahsoka Tano is a favorite character of The Clone Wars series, where she fights alongside Anakin Skywalker as his Jedi padawan. Years later, she also played a major role in Star Wars Rebels, and she will soon be getting her own show on Disney Plus.
Ahsoka was not only Anakin’s padawan, but she became his close friend as well. This has led many fans to wonder: what happened to their friendship after Anakin became Darth Vader?
And who would win if they faced off against each other?
We got to see this scenario in Season Two of Rebels, but the conclusion to this battle was not clearly defined. Who really won? And would such an outcome have happened again if they had met a second time?
Keep reading as we explore this fascinating scenario!
Table of Contents
Who Is Ahsoka Tano?
Ahsoka was a Force-sensitive member of the Togruta species originally from the planet Shili. She was discovered by Jedi Master Plo Koon and taken to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
There, she was trained from a young age in the ways of the Jedi. She was assigned to become Anakin Skywalker’s padawan when she was 14 years old.
Ahsoka learned many things from Anakin while serving with him throughout the Clone Wars. They were both highly loyal to each other, and they became close friends.
At age 17, Ahsoka walked away from the Jedi Order after she was accused of bombing the Jedi Temple. Though eventually acquitted of the charges, the ordeal caused her to lose faith in the Jedi, as only Anakin had believed she was innocent.
Several months later, however, she sought help from Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi in the coming Siege of Mandalore. Anakin divided the 501st Squadron of Clone Troopers and sent part of them with Ahsoka to aid in the Siege.
While returning from the Siege with Darth Maul in tow, Ahsoka felt a disturbance in the Force as Order 66 was issued.
She managed to survive the Order, remove the inhibitor chip from Clone Commander Rex, and the two of them escaped as their ship went down in the ensuing chaos.
Ahsoka was not immediately aware that Anakin had fallen to the Dark Side and became Darth Vader; she did have a premonition that he was in trouble, but assumed he was killed during Order 66.
In the following years, Ahsoka participated in various resistance movements against the Empire.
She eventually joined Bail Organa’s rebel group, took on the codename Fulcrum, and provided intelligence to various rebel cells, including the Spectres in Star Wars Rebels.
Over time, she began to suspect the truth about Darth Vader; finally, she had the truth confirmed when she confronted him.
Strengths
Ahsoka was a bit reckless and headstrong as a padawan, but she was a gifted fighter and Force-user. By the time she left the Jedi Order, she had proven she could hold her own in battle against a variety of tough opponents.
There were several reasons for her fighting skills.
For one thing, she carried two lightsabers and had been trained to fight with both of them. This gave her a natural edge over any opponent who fought with only one lightsaber.
What’s more, she was extremely agile and athletic. Part of this was due to her training and Force abilities, but part of it was natural to her species.
She was extremely quick and could use her speed and agility to wear down most of her opponents.
Weaknesses
In some ways, Ahsoka was quite similar to Anakin. Both were reckless but loyal, and both seemed prone to forming attachments, which was strictly forbidden by the Jedi Code.
Ahsoka was particularly attached to Anakin, and this attachment led her to believe that he could never become Darth Vader even as she gained mounting evidence to the contrary. For a long time, she remained in denial.
Because of this attachment, it is possible she would hesitate to kill him even if doing so became necessary for her own survival.
What’s more, Ahsoka was smaller and younger than Vader, so he would potentially be able to overpower her.
Who Is Darth Vader?
Darth Vader was originally known as Anakin Skywalker. He began his life as a slave boy on Tatooine. At age 9, he was discovered by Qui-Gon Jinn and brought to Coruscant for Jedi training, which he completed in ten years.
He began training his own padawan, Ahsoka, near the beginning of the Clone Wars, shortly after becoming a Jedi Knight. He served as a Jedi General throughout the War; he and Ahsoka fought many missions together and grew extremely loyal to each other.
However, Anakin was seduced by Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious, and he fell to the dark side in an effort to save his wife, Padme.
As part of this fall, he was given a new Sith name, Darth Vader.
After executing Order 66, Vader nearly lost his life but was saved by Palpatine. Padme still died, leaving Vader full of self-loathing and guilt, as Palpatine told Vader that he had killed her in his anger.
These strong negative emotions only strengthened his power as a Sith Lord. Vader spent years hunting the remaining Jedi, eventually encountering Ahsoka and nearly killing her before she was pulled into another dimension by Ezra Bridger.
Vader played a major role in the Galactic Civil War as Emperor Palpatine’s apprentice, overseeing the construction of the Death Star and Death Star II.
He tried to seduce his son, Luke, to join the dark side, but Luke instead pulled him back to the light side.
Vader ultimately died as a redeemed Anakin Skywalker after saving his son and throwing the Emperor down an energy shaft, effectively destroying Palpatine and his tyrannical Empire and restoring balance to the Force.
Strengths
Darth Vader had many strengths. He was a powerful Force user; thanks to his anger, hatred, and self-loathing, he drew extra power from the dark side of the Force.
He could easily manipulate the Force to his will, increasing his speed, strength, and reaction time. He could also use the Force to choke anyone who opposed him, move objects and throw them at his opponents, and look into their mind to discover their weaknesses.
What’s more, Vader was skilled with a lightsaber and hard to beat in a duel.
On top of everything, he had trained Ahsoka, so he knew her well. This, combined with the fact that he no longer cared for her, would have given him a definite edge over her in a fight.
Weaknesses
Despite his strengths, Vader had his share of weaknesses as well.
His most obvious weakness was his life-support suit. Though it kept him alive after what should have been mortal injuries, he was fully dependent on the suit throughout the rest of his life.
In some ways, the suit limited his abilities; for example, he couldn’t use Force Lightning because he would risk short-circuiting his suit.
In addition to his physical weaknesses, Vader was also extremely emotional. Though he typically channeled his emotions into Force strength, it is possible that his feelings could have also worked against him.
Perhaps he could have realized in the midst of the battle that he did still care for Ahsoka.
Alternatively, he might have felt more anger and hatred toward her than he could harness with the Force, which in turn could have caused him to lose control of himself during a fight between them.
Ahsoka Tano vs. Darth Vader: Who Would Win?
As mentioned earlier, we got to see a match-up between Vader and Ahsoka in Star Wars Rebels, when Ahsoka confronts Vader to save Ezra Bridger. The two of them dueled for a while and seemed pretty evenly matched, though Vader nearly overwhelmed her a few times.
It was initially thought that Ahsoka would have been killed during the duel, and she likely would have been, had not a future Ezra Bridger traveled through time and pulled her into the World Between Worlds.
Because of the nature of the two characters and the way their duel progressed, it is believable to think that Vader would have defeated Ahsoka, not only in that meeting but if they had ever met again.
Though Ahsoka seemed to let go of her old master following the duel, it is likely that she still felt more connected to him than he did to her.
Vader seemed to have completely let Ahsoka go after he became Darth Vader; in fact, he threatened to kill her when she refused to leave him. He nearly made good on this threat.
Vader was extremely cruel and showed no sign of relenting against her. Meanwhile, Ahsoka was not cruel and may or may not have been able to kill him if it came to it.
She gave him one heck of a fight and showed herself to be a formidable opponent; but ultimately, Vader would likely have won because it seemed he no longer cared about her.
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Ahsoka Tano |
Darth Vader |
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Conclusion
The on-screen duel between Darth Vader and Ahsoka Tano ended without any definitive conclusion; however, it is likely that Vader would have come out on top. This is due to his superior Force powers and his emotional disconnection from Ahsoka.
Though Ahsoka could hold her own against him, she was not as strong or powerful, and she still had a deep emotional connection to her former master that might have prevented her from killing him.