Ahsoka Fixes A Controversial Rebels Character Design
A brush of sadness crosses Hera Syndulla's (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) smile when her little green-haired son chirps, "I wanna be a Jedi," like his Aunt Sabine (Natasha Liu Bordizzo). To a "Star Wars Rebels" viewer, the intriguing part is that little Jacen Syndulla (Evan Whitten), a Twi'lek-human child, doesn't utter, "Like my dad!" Pragmatically, "Ahsoka," a live-action sequel to "Rebels," would not want to dive into excessive past characters. Jacen's human father seems to be a story that Hera prefers to explain to him another day. This is as tantalizing as his evolution from his original cartoon incarnation, which was precedent-setting for "Star Wars" humanoid hybrids.
Long before Werner Herzog said it on "The Mandalorian" season 1, a "Rebels" viewer might have demanded, "I would like to see the [green] baby." No, not Grogu, the Mando's baby. But Jacen Syndulla. So "Ahsoka" finally debuting the little guy in live-action has ended old questions as much as it's enhanced new intrigues.
Jacen's Parents
Move over, Leia Organa and Han Solo. You're not the greatest couple in the galaxy. The OTP is the SpaceMarried Jedi Kanan Jarrus (voiced by Freddie Prinze Jr.) and Hera Syndulla (voiced by Vanessa Marshall) of "Rebels." The two had what could be interpreted as an epic will-they-won't-they that filled four seasons, only to reveal that the two already did the deed when Hera showed up with a son at the end of the series finale.
Jacen had been a curiosity since his 10-second appearance in the "Rebels" epilogue as an awkward CGI child in Hera's copilot seat, much to the dropping of a million jaws (including that of Hera's "Rebels" voice actor, who wasn't informed of his creation). Not only was he confirmation that Kanan and Hera consummated their relationship, but his design raised a few eyebrows. Some found him to be an eyesore. It appeared the animation department couldn't suss out a solid design by the final product. What made it somewhat awkward was that his pale-orange skin (inherited from his Twi'lek grandfather Cham Syndulla) came off as whitewashed, since his father was a brown-coded character (voiced by Prinze, who is of Puerto Rican descent).
It's not the first time the "Star Wars" franchise presented the offspring of a Twi'lek and human union, but it was the first time said offspring was more human passing with human hair instead of lekku. Those who watched "The Clone Wars" season 2 had an earlier onscreen glance at Twi'lek-human hybrid children, the stepkids of the AWOL clone Cut Lawquane, with lekku and splotchy skins.
A Twi'lek-human hybrid
Jacen's green hair, instead of the usual Twi'lek lekku tendrils, has always been a point of contention or affection for fans. If Ezra Bridger (voiced by Taylor Gray in "Rebels") was a Blueberry Child for his blue-ish hair, then Jacen earned the nickname the "Broccoli Child" for his hair. A Twi'lek skin tone — Hera's green skin in this case — might factor into the hair color of their offspring? Guess that's how the galactic Punnett square works. Anime genetics aside, some found the green hair to be inexplicable even by "Star Wars" standards. Some speculated that Sabine Wren, a chronic hair dyer herself, colored his hair to match his mother's complexion.
So Jacen's yet-to-be live-action appearance intrigued people. When a "Star Wars" LEGO set featured a Jacen LEGO with brown hair, Redditors took that as a hint of a live-action redesign with brown hair. That guess was both right and wrong when young Evan Whitten, his dark hair dyed in green, showed up as Jacen on "Ahsoka."
From cartoon to live-action
There's probably a good reason why the animation team elected to give Jacen hair instead of lekku. If the animators were aware that these characters could transfer to live-action, it may as well have been a practical call to not saddle a kid actor with heavy makeup. It's simpler to maintain a human face than a painted face with lekku. Whitten's ears also are hidden by his green hair, which could conceal the green-shaded ears that showed up on the cartoon model.
The "Rebels" character sheet indicated that the animators intended to give Jacen his father's teal eyes, but the final animated version of the character ended up with dark blue eyes. Giving a kid color contacts could be troublesome, so the live-action "Ahsoka" goes with the actor's natural brown eyes. Whitten's Jacen also bears a brown complexion like Kanan, a far cry from the pale-orange skin. As a final touch, a discernible eye can notice that Jacen's suit has a Republic shoulder pauldron like his late father's.
When did they conceive a Broccoli Child?
Ahem, so when a human Jedi man and a Rebel Twi'lek woman love each other, they make a baby. So when was Jacen ... made? Apparently, it happened in "Rebels" season 4, episode 7, "Kindred." No, Disney wouldn't let them tease that something very adult happened between the two, but "Kindred" had a rather tame interaction with them watching the sunset (a foreboding sign of loss).
Supposedly, according to a leftover Wookieepedia "Notes and references" entry, this is what "Rebels" writer Henry Gilroy told a fan when asked about the nature of Jacen's conception:
"Bria LaVorgna brought up the question of when Jacen Syndulla was conceived. [Henry] Gilroy described a scene from the episode "Kindred," where Hera finds Kanan meditating out in the fields. He said there was a time-cut or dissolve after that and "a lot of things can happen in a dissolve."
This means Kanan and Hera did the dirty deed during something like a commercial break, the ideal window of time for a couple to do a quickie before they return to Rebellion matters and their adopted kids. I guess they forgot the contraceptives. Tragically, Kanan would never meet his son, seeing as he sacrificed himself to save Hera and the Ghost crew from a fire explosion on Lothal. Does Jacen know about that part of the story? For now, that remains unclear.
Jacen's future is in motion
Eons before Whitten bore Jacen's green hair, theories ran wild about the little guy's future, given that he would likely inherit Kanan's Force-sensitivity. In what may be an omen, he shares his name with Han Solo and Leia Organa's son from Star Wars Legends. Those acquainted with Legends know that Han and Leia's Jacen Solo (Ben Solo's predecessor) turned to the Dark Side and killed his aunt Mara Jade, so Jacen Syndulla better not do something terrible to his "Aunt Sabine." But that aside, some may notice that "Jacen" has the phonetic syllable of his parents' names: Jarrus and Syndulla.
Although the old Jedi Order frowned upon familial attachments, "Rebels" takes a different route. In the aftermath of Order 66, individuals like Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger have proven that Jedi can function with familial support. Keeping that legacy in mind, it's indisputable that live-action Jacen looks as handsome as his father before him. The Twi'lek-human seems to have a hopeful path ahead of him, as long as he remains surrounded by a loving family.
New episodes of "Ahsoka" premiere Tuesday nights on Disney+ at 6:00 pm Pacific, 9:00 pm Eastern.