Ahsoka Episode 5 “Shadow Warrior” ending explained

This article contains spoilers for Ahsoka Episode 5, “Shadow Warrior.”

Ahsoka Episode 5 gave us two very special gifts: a beautiful blast of nostalgia and an incredibly strong ending. During this 52-minute masterpiece, we witness many special moments and the continuation of a beautiful friendship that started so many years ago. The final moments of this episode moved the series ahead quite rapidly. Jumping right into their journey, Ahsoka and her trusty droid, Huyang prepare for just about anything before venturing off into the complete unknown.

Ahsoka’s new leaf

After the end of last week’s episode, we see what presumably was the death of Ahsoka Tano. Contrary to what we were led to believe, Ahsoka is ultimately found and rescued by the New Republic. However, Ahsoka comes out of Seatos’ waters with a fresh new perspective.

During her time in the waters, Ahsoka traveled (at least in spirit) to the World Between Worlds. Upon her arrival, she is greeted by her old master, Anakin Skywalker, as we saw at the end of last week’s episode. Anakin explains to Ahsoka that she still has much to learn, and her training finally needs to be finished. Because Ahsoka left the Jedi Order during the Clone Wars, Anakin never got to finish Ahsoka’s Jedi training in the physical world. Therefore, Ahsoka was in for quite the final lesson.

Ultimately, one final lesson with her Master taught Ahsoka many lessons and eventually gave her a great sense of closure. After Anakin’s infamous turn to the Dark Side, Ahsoka was left with a horrid image of who was once her dear friend. Not only completing her training but getting to see her master one more time as his true self gave Ahsoka all the hope and inspiration she needed for her battle ahead. Reimirging as a formidable force, a resilient Ahsoka would soon need her newly acquired wisdom to handle an ugly truth.

Ahsoka returns to the scene where Baylan Skoll previously persuaded Sabine to hand over the map to reunite with Ezra Bridger. After a minute to sense what had transpired between Baylan and Sabine, Ahsoka quickly realizes that Sabine has handed the map over and is headed to the new galaxy. Personally, I expected Ahsoka to be angry with this discovery. However, I was proven wrong as Ahsoka persevered with hope. After her long-desired final lesson with her Master, Ahsoka realizes what it’s going to take to be a Master herself. With a smile on her face, Ahsoka shows no fear of going into a vast new world.

Herra’s big stand

Among most of the Ahsoka episodes so far, Hera has taken a back seat to a lot of the action. Restrained by the politics of the New Republic, Hera wasn’t left with much to help aid her in her battle against Elsbeth. However, she surely did everything she possibly could.

Because of the lack of evidence, Mon Mothma makes it clear that she cannot send further aid Hera’s way. This reasonably frustrates Hera as she has been arguing with New Republic authorities for the past couple of episodes. By now, we see it’s clear that the Senate does not have Hera’s back and she knows it too.

Disobeying orders, Hera blocks the New Republic ship standing in their way with her own, allowing the Purrgil and Ahsoka to pass through without any further disruptions. General Syndulla’s actions may indeed come with some reprimands. However, Hera felt like she genuinely had no choice after hopelessly negotiating with the Senate. As Hera didn’t get the opportunity to make the journey, we’ll have to see what the series has planned for her next while she’s separated from her friends.

Flight of the Purgil

At the end of episode 3, we witnessed the return of the intergalactic species, the Purrgil. However, the beloved space whales played a much more significant role in the conclusion of this episode. Missing Morgan Elsbeth’s hyperspace jump, Ahsoka and Huyang improvise and decide to let the Purrgil guide the ship into the vast unknown, hoping to be reunited with the potentially endangered Sabine Wren. Many fans speculated that Ahsoka would eventually use Purrgil to journey to the new galaxy after seeing their return in episode 3. It additionally made sense, given that these creatures were last seen at the end of Star Wars Rebels, the finale that firmly set up the plot of this series.

Ahsoka optimistically mentions to Huyang that the Purrgil could take them anywhere, meaning that there’s no guarantee that they will follow Sabine and Elsbeth. Given the uncertainty, there’s really no way to tell where they have gone. Additionally, there’s no telling what they will face when they eventually do find Sabine. Because Sabine, Skoll, Shin Hati, and Elsbeth weren’t featured in this episode, we have virtually nothing to further speculate on, possibly how Filoni exactly intended it to be.