In the modern Star Wars canon, it’s hard to find anything as influential as The Clone Wars. But there’s one story within that series that turned the entire series on its head. Since it debuted, it’s become known as the Mortis Arc, and it was an eye-opener.
While Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker learned something about themselves there, a vision on Mortis predicted events in Ahsoka Tano’s life that wouldn’t come to pass until seasons 5 and 7. They even went so far as laying out what Ahsoka needed to do to survive Order 66.
The Mortis Arc
Without a shadow of a doubt, the Mortis Arc is easily the most famous single story in the entire seven-season run of the series. Obi-Wan, Anakin and Ahsoka were trying to meet Captain Rex at the site of a distress call in space.
Instead, the three Jedi ended up on a mysterious world called Mortis. They met three powerful Force users called the Daughter, the Son and the Father. As the season 3 arc went on, they were revealed to respectively be avatars of the Light Side, the Dark Side and the balance between them.
These episodes set up what would become a huge part of the Jedi mythology. Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger would go on to explore the ramifications of the Mortis Arc in several episodes of Rebels. This included Ezra and Sabine Wren essentially resurrecting Ahsoka with that knowledge.
The Mortis Arc also featured the first appearance of Morai, the owl that would follow Ahsoka around through Rebels, the seventh season of The Clone Wars and her one appearance on The Mandalorian. This story set the stage for what was to come in many ways.
Ahsoka Tano talks to herself on Mortis
The first episode of the Mortis Arc was season 3 episode 15, also known as “Overlords.” While Anakin was out dealing with the strangers they had met on the planet, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka rode out a deadly storm by hiding in a cave.
It was in this cave that Obi-Wan experienced a vision of his former master, Qui-Gon. But Ahsoka had a vision of her own. Instead of someone from her past, she saw someone from her future. Specifically, Ahsoka had a vision of her future self.
Obviously a full-grown warrior, future Ahsoka came with a message for her past self. There was darkness both inside herself and Anakin. If she was going to survive what was coming, she would have to distance herself from her master.
Naturally, young Ahsoka dismissed this. But she didn’t have the context fans did. Anyone watching that episode for the first time in 2011 already knew about Order 66, Darth Sidious, the Empire and Darth Vader. Ahsoka didn’t.
Leaving the Jedi Order
Part of the Mortis prophecy would come to pass at the end of season 5 of The Clone Wars. Framed for a crime she did not commit, Ahsoka was excommunicated from the Jedi Order. Once cleared of all charges, she felt betrayed and walked away from everything she knew.
Eventually, the rest of the prophecy would happen in season 7. She returned to the Republic, but not the Jedi Order, to help fight Maul on Mandalore. Shortly after that, Order 66 happened as a result of the darkness within Anakin, causing the downfall of both the Republic and the Jedi.
Had Ahsoka continued to serve alongside Anakin, the likelihood of her surviving Order 66 would have been extremely low. Even worse, her loyalty to him might have even allowed the newly minted Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine to turn Ahsoka to the Dark Side.
Many years after Mortis, Ahsoka would encounter Darth Vader on Rebels. It was then that she found out that Anakin survived and became everything she was fighting against. At that moment, everything future Ahsoka had warned herself about on Mortis became all too real.