In Ahsoka, Ahsoka Tano may be using Force powers and swinging a lightsaber around, but she’d balk at outright calling herself a Jedi. Why? Because she parted ways with the Jedi well before the series began. And if you’re wondering just why Ahsoka left the Jedi Order in Star Wars, I’ve got the answer.
Here’s Why Ahsoka Left the Jedi Order in Star Wars
To understand why Ahsoka walked, you need a handle on how she began her journey as a Jedi or, at least, the one we witnessed during Star Wars: The Clone Wars. She left her family at a young age, after it was discovered she was Force sensitive. She joined the Jedi Order as a youngling and it was all she’d known for most of her life. At the age of 14 she became Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan, and at this point you might be wondering whether it was his fall to the Dark Side that saw her exit the order.
But she left well before the events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, exiting the Jedi Order at the end of Clone Wars Season 5. Even if the Jedi Order hadn’t fallen, it’s questionable as to whether she’d ever have come back. So just what happened?
Over the course of the series, she became disillusioned with the Republic and, to some extent, the Jedi Order. She saw that the war wasn’t black and white, that some of the Separatists weren’t the monsters they were made out to be. She became a little suspicious of how the war was being fought, though her objections were ignored. She retained some faith in the Jedi up until the events of the final three episodes of Clone Wars Season 5.
After the Jedi Temple was bombed, she was accused of murdering the prime suspect and, later, of bombing the temple itself. Before she was tried in a Republic court, she faced the Jedi Council who, instead of supporting her, refused to believe she was innocent. The only one who supported her was Anakin.
It was revealed that Barriss Offee, a Jedi that Ahsoka considered a friend, was responsible. However, while Anakin was eventually able to prove Offee was the culprit, she was seconds away from being found guilty. Shocked by the council’s lack of trust, she decided to leave. Their horrible, horrible non-apology didn’t help, either.
“The council didn’t trust me, so how can I trust myself?” she remarked before leaving the Jedi Order behind. And that’s why Ahsoka walked away from the Jedi Order.
For more on Star Wars, check out our thoughts on Disney+’s Ahsoka series, as well as Jedi: Survivor.
