This article contains spoilers for The Clone Wars show and episode 6 of Tales of the Jedi.
Ahsoka Tano was the first Star Wars character to draw me into the universe, and I know I’m not alone in that. Across several television appearances, fans have watched in fascination as the Togruta warrior learned the ways of the Force and the strategies of warfare. With the upcoming live-action show, even more fans will soon find Star Wars through Ahsoka’s journey. Anyone who has seen Ahsoka fighting with her set of lightsabers knows she is not one to be underestimated, but you might be wondering why her fighting style looks so different from the traditional forms we have seen other Jedi use.
Why does Ahsoka have two lightsabers?
When Ahsoka was first introduced in The Clone Wars movie, she used a single lightsaber. Her form was already unique from most Jedi because she held the lightsaber in a reverse grip, where the blade points backward compared to the normal Jedi grip. She specialized primarily in a form of lightsaber dueling called Ataru, or Form IV, which is an acrobatic style also practiced by Yoda. Using this form, she often implements speed and leaping flips.
Later on, in The Clone Wars show, she combined her Ataru skills with another form called Jar’Kai, which requires a Jedi to use two lightsabers. Other Force-users like Count Dooku and Asajj Ventress use two lightsabers for this style, as well. In Ahsoka’s case, her second blade is shorter than the original, called a shoto lightsaber. While the Ataru style focuses on offense, using two blades allows Ahsoka to defend herself better.
Why are her lightsabers white?
Ahsoka’s lightsaber journey has led her to a few different lightsaber colors. Her lightsabers were green and yellow-green throughout her time in the Jedi Order. At the end of season 5 of The Clone Wars, Ahsoka leaves the Jedi Order and her lightsabers behind. Anakin Skywalker cared for them in her absence, and as he did so, the color of the sabers both shifted to match his own blue lightsaber. Ahsoka is reunited with her lightsabers in season 7 of the show, where she discovers their new blue hue.
In the show’s finale, Order 66 is executed, so all Jedi and Force users are threatened. Ahsoka chooses to leave her lightsabers behind as a ploy to fake her death, so the Empire cannot find her. This is the last time she uses that pair of sabers.
In Tales of the Jedi and the Ahsoka novel by E.K. Johnston, we learn that an Inquisitor confronts Ahsoka while she is in hiding. Inquisitors have red lightsabers that result from a process called bleeding, where they bend the kyber crystal that powers the lightsaber to the Dark Side and turn it red. After Ahsoka’s fight with the Inquisitor, she takes the kyber crystals from his saber and purifies them using the Force. Both crystals became white, and when used in her lightsabers, they also reflected that unique color.
Soon we will see her two white lightsabers in action once again when Ahsoka makes its two-episode debut on August 23!
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, Star Wars wouldn’t exist.