It’s officially Ahsoka month! There hasn’t been quite this level of excitement for a Star Wars TV show in a minute. But there’s also never been an entire show about Ahsoka Tano — one of the most beloved Star Wars characters of all time. (Tales of the Jedi came close, but she shared the spotlight with Dooku.)
There has, however, been an entire Star Wars book about the character. E.K. Johnston’s Ahsoka novel, published in 2016, tells the story of the former Jedi dodging the Empire in the year following Order 66 … until she can’t bear to let them terrorize innocent people anymore.
But how much of the book will tie into the new Disney+ show — if at all?
While the show may draw on key moments from the book to build Ahsoka’s character in the show, the two stories take place at different points in the timeline and likely won’t actually heavily influence each other. The Ahsoka novel takes place one year after Order 66, while the series is set to take place around the same time as The Mandalorian Season 3.
Tales of the Jedi also technically already brought some of Johnston’s novel to the small screen, showing her encounter with an Inquisitor and the formation of her iconic white lightsabers. The new series likely won’t touch on that moment — at least not on-screen — again.
The Ahsoka novel is an extremely important entry into Ahsoka’s story and helps Star Wars fans to understand her journey from the end of The Clone Wars to her first appearance in Rebels many in-universe years later. Just because the book and show aren’t connected doesn’t mean either story is any less valuable. They’re just equally important stories told in different mediums at different points in the central character’s life.
They just happen to have the same name and title character, even if they’re not the same story.
Star Wars: Ahsoka arrives August 23 with a two-episode premiere exclusively on Disney+.
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