Spoilers ahead for the first six episodes of Ahsoka on Disney+.
The stakes are as high as they’ve ever been in Star Wars television after Episode 6 of Ahsoka, called “Far, Far Away.” In the span of less than an hour, viewers not only got a look at how much of a threat Thrawn is despite a decade in exile, but got to see Ezra Bridger for the first time since his disappearance in the finale of Star Wars Rebels. Naturally, this meant seeing Ahsoka cast members Lars Mikkelsen and Eman Esfandi portraying Thrawn and Ezra in live-action for the first time. Once I got over the excitement of that development, something occurred to me: there’s a Rebels reveal for Ezra that I absolutely need within the next two episodes.
The Rebels Reveal For Ezra
The reveal I’m hoping for actually has to do with a character who has been dead at this point in the Star Wars timeline for about ten years: Kanan Jarrus. For viewers who stayed away from the animated series set in the galaxy far, far away, that name may mean nothing more than the Jedi mentioned in the previous episode while Ahsoka was in the World Between Worlds. For Rebels fans… well, Kanan was a main character whose death was arguably the turning point of the final season. He lives on in his son Jacen, and I am ready to cross all my fingers for a Jacen/Ezra scene within the next couple of episodes.
After all, Jacen’s very existence as the child of Kanan and Hera was such a surprise that voice actress Vanessa Marshall didn’t even know about it until she watched the series finale. Hera wasn’t showing any signs of pregnancy in those final episodes other than the tiny clues that Dave Filoni included. So, unless Ezra somehow sensed that she was pregnant through the Force, he has no idea in Ahsoka that Hera had Kanan’s son. What could be more meaningful (in a good way) to Ezra than to learn that his Jedi master, who died in front of both him and Hera, had a child who also happens to be Force-sensitive?
Considering that Thrawn is on the verge of being able to return to the usual Star Wars galaxy in force and Sabine won’t be able to hide her role in that from Ezra forever, I think we could also use something uplifting to look forward to. After seeing that Eman Esfandi’s portrayal of Ezra is so accurate to the animation that he may as well have stepped off of Disney XD, I’m confident that he could absolutely crush a reaction to Jacen that would fit everything that Rebels fans could hope for. We never got to see anybody else’s reaction to the hybrid youngster, and Kanan’s son would have to mean so much to Ezra.
Could Ezra Really Find Out About Jacen On Screen?
Look, I can be reasonable. I know that an awful lot would have to go right in the remaining two episodes of Ahsoka for Ezra to end up back in the same galaxy as Jacen and Hera with enough breathing room to actually meet him. A scene between the man Kanan raised like a son and the son Kanan never got to meet may not be in the cards for Season 1, so I would be perfectly satisfied with seeing Ezra’s reaction to finding out about Jacen. Sabine really owes him a piece of good news in light of the very, very, very bad news about how she found him.
I don’t know if I’d expect his first reaction to be happiness or shock or just confusion about when Kanan and Hera actually had time to make Jacen in Season 4, which… would be relatable. Between Kanan’s on-screen death and then Jacen's existence confirming what he and Hera were up to in their alone time, Rebels really seemed to push the limits of what could happen on Disney XD back in the day!
More seriously, I think Ezra either finding out about or meeting Jacen would be a light moment in a future that seems pretty grim at the moment. Plus, between the two Rebels characters who just debuted into live-action, I’d rather Ezra than Thrawn find out about Kanan and Hera’s son first! As I noted previously on CinemaBlend, Hera was the one set up as Thrawn’s Rebels nemesis more than anybody else.
On the whole, after Ahsoka sidestepped what could have been major issues with Ezra and Thrawn’s returns, I’m optimistic about the show continuing to do right by Star Wars Rebels while still telling Ahsoka’s story. Here’s hoping that involves Ezra finding out about Spectre-7 on screen! I still think that he's the only one Hera would allow to train Jacen, and I'm confident that their paths will cross... at some point.
Find out with new episodes of Ahsoka on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET with a Disney+ subscription. You can also revisit the animated adventures of Thrawn, Ezra, and even young Jacen’s first appearance with all four seasons of Rebels available on the streamer.
