Ashley Eckstein Hoped Star Wars: Tales Of The Jedi Would Put An Annoying Ahsoka Complaint To Rest
Ever since George Lucas started making "Star Wars" movies, fans have found ways to complain about the franchise's main characters. From saying Luke was too whiny in the first film to hating on Anakin (both young and grown-up) to becoming the absolute worst when Rey was introduced, the biggest constant in "Star Wars" has always been fan complaints. Of course, this also applies to animation and Ahsoka Tano.
"The Clone Wars" remains one of the most important pieces of "Star Wars" media ever. It expanded the franchise to animation in a major way beyond just mini-series, actually building on the movies and telling its own stories rather than just acting as an advertisement for the next film. It also introduced many fan-favorite characters and changed our understanding of the Force and the "Star Wars" universe at large. It was a show so good it made George Lucas want to be involved after promising to be hands-off.
At the center of it was Ahsoka Tano, Anakin's previously unknown apprentice who grew to become one of the franchise's most beloved characters. Though she's appeared in many titles, it was with "Tales of the Jedi," the anthology animated show, that voice actor Ashley Eckstein saw an opportunity to finally put an annoying fan complaint to rest.
"One of the things that people love about Ahsoka is just how skilled she is with her lightsabers," Eckstein told ComicBook.com. "People love those moments, but we've never explored how she became so good, how she became so skilled."
One of the key things "The Clone Wars" did early on was not to make Ahsoka as strong as Anakin, but to show her progress. "She wasn't always perfect — but on the flip side, we did get some complaints in the beginning of, 'Well, how is she so good? How is she saving Anakin?'" Eckstein noted.
Master and apprentice
In "Tales of the Jedi," we see Anakin arduously push Ahsoka in an exercise training against other clones, teaching her the same tactics she'd later use to survive Order 66. For Eckstein, this episode shows why Ahsoka was so good, and also that Anakin deeply cared for her.
"She was a 14-year-old girl when she first came into the Clone Wars. He was trying to save her," Eckstein said. "If he didn't prepare her for war, she would've died. And Anakin loves Ahsoka like a little sister."
We saw that brother-sister dynamic begin in the "Clone Wars" movie, where Anakin gave Ahsoka the nickname "Snips." Early on, their dynamic was rather antagonistic, with Anakin being against the idea of a padawan, and Ahsoka being as stubborn as him. This coincided with negative fan reactions against Ahsoka, who saw her as a ticking time bomb waiting to die since there was no Ahsoka in the movies. Even Dave Filoni teased Eckstein with the death of her character. Luckily, that didn't happen, or audiences would have missed out on one of the most complex, fully-developed characters in all of "Star Wars."
And as for her training, we're talking about a kid who literally grew up on the battlefield. Is media literacy so low that some people really need scenes showing a character train every day to believe that they have skills? Weren't Ahsoka's constant clashes against Grievous, Asajj Ventress, and even Maul on "Clone Wars" enough?
To end on a more positive note, you should absolutely check out "Tales of the Jedi" (which is streaming on Disney+).