TV Discussion The Ahsoka Tano Mega Thread Power Hour

I love Ahsoka. First watched TCW about a year ago and binge watched it all. Ahsoka was odd at first to handle with Anakin having a padawan and all, but she became my favorite character in the show and was great. The way it ended was a great way to bridge the series into ROTS.

 

Honestly I believe people claim to have hated her from beginning to end just because they want to spite the overwhelming majority that support her. Curiously, it's many of these same people who defend against the legitimate gripes about Hayden Christiansen's terrible acting in the lackluster PT movies.

 

Hey, guys, did you ever see the Raymond episode where Robert tells Stephanie she's annoying? Well, Ahsoka should be called "Stephaine" cause she so gets on your nerves, she deserves to be cut from the show. She's gotta go, just like the man who wrote in.

 

And there will be people who like characters for no other reason than their gender and/or their race (we know nothing about Boyega's character yet, but somehow he's already being hailed as some minority saviour). That's fair - I got excited about Donnie Yen - but somehow, these people are not constantly asked to prove otherwise.

One of the arguments I keep hearing is that people should like Ahsoka because she provides an entry-point for female fans, and everyone who hates her is automatically an OT purist fanboy who cannot accept anything new. Both statements seem to discount the possibility that there are existing female fans, or female fans who hate her.

It IS creepy, isn't it? Makes you wonder how Filoni got away with it for so long.

Not EVEN. Jar Jar knew when to bow out and shut up after TPM when his presence wasn't needed or wanted. And he was a convenient cause for Palpatine's rise to power (Palpatine would take advantage of his uh...idiocy, because Bail and Padme weren't about to do him any more favours). To quote the Office: If I had a gun with 2 bullets and I had to kill Jar Jar, Hitler, and Ahsoka, I would shoot Ahsoka twice.

I'm not entirely sure if you can understand the meaning of "fans I've known". It's quite simple: I base my opinion on people I know and trust in real life and can hold a face-to-face conversation with. And should I meet all those online people you mention in real life, I shall revise my opinion.

Compare the before and after photos, and then tell me which part of the description is improper or wrong. The "warming up" is actually a direct quote of the most common expression of fans who "hated Ahsoka at first" but eventually "warmed up to her" after she "matured", "developed" in season 3 or 4 (AFTER her redesign). Seriously, google that before accusing me of my baseless opinions.

 

Says the minority. Why is it so difficult to believe that the reason Filoni kept her character present throughout the series is because of her p-o-p-u-l-a-r-i-t-y? He could've just as easily written her off by the end of the second season of TCW; or at least reduced her role to virtual nonexistence like Lucas did with Jar Jar in the last two legs of the PT movies.

 

Nobody labelled anybody as sexist for the record....

Straw man argument again... nobody suggested that...

My take on your question is this, nobody is accused of racism or sexism if they don't like Luke so therefore nobody can be accused of racism and sexism if they don't like Ahsoka. Its clearly a ridiculous argument that should be called out for being such.

hahah... i didn't think we would agree on anything anakinfansince1983, but

 

Nobody has made that argument in this thread that I'm aware of until YOU brought it up.

Nope, wrong... It is really creepy to suggest that Filoni is some sort of pervert to put Ahsoka in a tube top.

 

Well, at the end of the day I can't but hold my hands up and admit that I do have a bit of a soft spot for her. She's what tvtropes would call a cute bruiser - a cute tiny bundle who is capable of just exploding into furious, violent action, fully capable of laying the smack down and ****ing **** up when needed, not scared to go head to head with big boys and quite able to hold her own when she does.

For some reason, such characters have always been cool to me. Another awesome example would be Hit-Girl from the Kick-Ass series.



Yee haw. 'Spect muh lil Soka!

That's the feel side of my brain talking though. The "Cool! Groovy!" Side. The logical side of me though can see the spectrum of strong points and weak points. Sometimes she works well with the story, other times she seems a bit forced. I can see how some others could perceive her differently, how some could even hate and loathe her. It is what it is. I try not to judge.

 

I don't want to specifically tag anyone, although I kind of want to, but a few posters here *seem* to be sticking their fingers in their ears and saying "I don't want to listen to you; I don't want to even try to understand why you think what you do because you are wrong wrong wrong..."

As neither a hater or a lover of the character (yes, we do exist): let me try to explain my evolution of thought on Ahsoka. Just try to understand even if you don't agree.

Initially, I disliked many aspects of her:

How does she fit in with the movies - it doesn't seem to fit at all
How come a Temple-raised padawan is so real-world teenager - she's not deferential (not saying she should be meek and obedient, but she was supposed to be a learner not a mouth-off)
How the hell is it females get revealing outfits when males don't - and worse - how the hell is she supposed to be in combat without those clothes slipping up or down- it's impracticable regardless of whether it's "in" in the real world

So my dislikes were against how she fit in WITHIN the GFFA

What did I like?

I liked her spirit and interactions with Anakin. She was a fun character (even if not "appropriate" in-universe)
She did bring in a bunch of fans and that's always good
It's good to see someone younger sometimes see/suggest something the more experienced miss - experience is not 100% "best"

That's just off the top of my head without thinking too deeply or pulling up old posts to see other things I liked or disliked

My later thoughts:
Too often she shows up the other Jedi. Occasionally, sure, that's fine. But as presented, the other Jedi "need" to learn to see/think like her, learn from her. She's almost the teacher. Lesson: listen to the youngling; elders are too set in their ways and have little to contribute.
She was shoehorned in (or not given proper build up) to stories - gee, she's best friends with Padme, she gets visions, she's best friends with Chiuchi (spelling?)

I could pull up more pro and more con thoughts, but I'd have to think about it.

In summary: she's a fun character, she's done a lot for the franchise, but she hasn't been used to her best potential - she should have been a balance. She became instead a symbol of all that's wrong with all the other characters because the main measure became how she was the standard against which all others should be measured and everyone else fell short of her lofty standards.

And that's a pure shame. Because she could have developed into so much more - a learner who learned AND taught, who saw the "errors" of the Jedi only to find out SOMEtimes that life wasn't that simple or easy.

Perhaps had she been in a movie, rather than cartoon, that might have happened. Maybe it will happen with Rebels.

 

I didn't know I had to limit myself to comments on this thread. But give it time.

Then why does he do it? Never said he was a pervert, but I would like to see him explain why he thought putting a teenage girl in a skimpy outfit was even vaguely acceptable, especially considering she comes from a faction where the uniforms are generally standard and designed for humility, respect and modesty (physically, and financially).

 

I have to admit I've never really thought of Ahsoka's earlier model outfit until now. I like her second model anyway.

I like Ahsoka Tano. She isn't my favorite character, but I like her. I never thought she came off as a Mary Sue or was overpowered.

 

I wonder what Ahsoka would have been like if she was assigned to a different master then Anakin?

 

On that point, I too am eternally grateful, Todd. Now I'll have a direction to point, when the Official Rebels and Rebels S2 threads devolve into "stop bashing Ahsoka, she's popular, and the overwhelming majority agrees with me."

^ That about sums up my opinion. I don't like yellow Skittles either!

 

I like Ahsoka, as I've said previously she is a main character female Jedi not only regulated to Legends. And that is probably something I have wanted since I first watched ANH on TV recorded VHS tapes in the late eighties.

A female Jedi that has been shown in lightsaber duels, fighter piloting, leading ground assaults, having force visions, etc that we have seen Luke, Anakin and Obi-Wan do a million times over in the movies. Plus, she gets to do things like take Jedi younglings on trips, play the most dangerous game with Trandos, make friends with natives, get betrayed, save slaves, etc.

Ahsoka has a rather simple coming of age arc in TCW, but simple doesn't mean not important. She grows and changes due to the war, what she experiences and how that shapes the way she sees not only her place in it, but especially how she sees the place of the Jedi in the war. Something great characters like Yoda and Obi-wan only acknowledge at the end of RotS.

Does that make her a mary sue/too good to do wrong/shameless pandering? No, it just means that in this instance she doesn't make the same mistakes they did.

Of course, not everyone agrees. And that is fine. I giggle along with some of the jokes at Ahsoka's expense too, but sometimes the sheer vitriol against her makes me cringe. Especially since she seems to inspire a level of hate very few other characters can achieve. And I do wonder at that.

 

Did you see the Jedi Master handbook that says "all Padawan must be taught to keep their mouth shut"? Me neither. What makes you think Ahsoka is the only padawan to act not-Jedi-like? Think of the youngling group in the Gathering arc, they were very much like real-world teenagers too. Hell, even Obi-Wan as a Youngling and Padawan was reckless and even had a lot of anger in him.

Can't argue with that. Captain Paelleon said it better than anyone.

I'm trying to remember in which episode she is presented as such... I just can't.

I didn't know it was a problem for padawans to have visions.

She became that symbol through no fault of her own. Or well... Kind of, if only she'd remained in her cell... And I've already demonstrated this but the Jedi Council made fools of themselves throughout the PT. It's not news to TCW and not exclusive to Ahsoka.

 

No, but you can't think that that reaction is exclusive to Ahsoka. A teacher learns as much from their students as a student learns from their teacher*.


*Someone put this at the beginning of a Clone Wars episode.

 

Who is talking about Ahsoka staying in her cell? I disagree about the Jedi Council making fools of themselves through the PT (the implication that it is constant and ongoing - I concede that there are instances where fans disagree).

I don't have each episode memorized so I can't pull up examples willy-nilly, but I don't have a problem with Ahsoka having visions - it's her having visions, being best friends with whomever is featured within an episode, being the "hero" when she was only part of a heroic team, getting a pass by a Councilmember (I think she should have gotten a combination of praise and reprimand) - it's the totality of how she is treated within the episodes, not just one instance here or there.

It's also the contrast to how other Jedi are treated - Filoni turned Obi-Wan into a sarcastic punching-bag (the infamous "you want more Obi-Wan" comment, and yeah, I know Dooku beat him in the movies and all that), Anakin is no more than Ahsoka's equal, the Council rarely, if ever, seen as other than an obstacle...

it's that totality of how Ahsoka - even with her conceded errors from time to time - is "the" Jedi that is symbolic of all the Jedi should be.

 

Stepping away into other threads...I actually have to add that Ahsoka's youth probably contributes to her idealism in a time of cynicism (war). She *may* have a bit of a reason to be the "best of" the Jedi in that she sees things more simplistically as right and wrong, but we all know that no matter how life seems when you're young (there's "fair" and "unfair" and so on), life isn't just black and white, right and wrong.

But Ahsoka can be "more ideal Jedi" than the adults in some ways, at some times, but she became the ideal at all times - and when she wasn't, it was to set her up for another situation where she was right once again.

I think her characterization could have been more palatable if she'd been contrasted against several other padawans of her age and their relationships with their masters. An actual young Jedi show starring Ahsoka - that could have been interesting and the canon Jedi wouldn't have needed to be dumbed down and mistaken as much as they were painted to be.

 

Valairy Scot

I always wondered why they never brought in more Padawans around Ahsoka's age. That would have been really interesting. Especially if there was some type of rivalry going on at times and they learned how to be jedi and grow together through loss and triumph. Plus, it would have been nice to see Ahsoka have some other friends who were Padawans.